8:28pm David Warner has just taken his leg stump guard. Cartwright is opening with him. Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball. One slip catching.

8:24pm Confirmed. Play to resume in six minutes. Target of 164 in 21 overs. One bowler can bowl a maximum of five overs. Powerplay 1 - 1-4 overs; Powerplay 2: 5-17; Powerplay 3: 18-21.

8:19pm India are out on the field. We're hearing of an 8:30pm resumption. The revised target will be 164 in 21 overs in that case.

8:16pm, Arun: "The supersoppers are prowling the field, the umpires have taken another look and are gesturng towards the dressing room. Steven Smith is now talking to the umpire."

8:12pm, Arun, Chepauk thala: If you are chewing your nails and tearing your hair out, you won't be judged. It's inexplicable how nothing more than a few droplets of rain have held up play for more than two hours now.

Chandra: "Those are targets, right? Not the par score...?" --- Yes, targets.

Anant: "Can someone please guide through the targets that Aussies will have to face? Growing impatient now" ---- Here's a breakdown: 20 overs - 159 || 21 overs - 164 || 22 overs - 170 || 23 overs - 175 || 24 overs - 181 || 25 overs - 186

8:01pm, Arun, Chepauk weatherman: Covers are off, super soppers are on, stumps planted. Where have we heard that before? Just over thirty minutes left.

Firoz Dhanani: "Whistle Podu is just WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING CSK BACK IN THE IPL"

Mohamad Javed H: "Thala Means : The Big Boss literally No one is Bigger than Thala. Whistle Podu Means : Give a Hard Whistle (high-pitched sound) Which we chennaites Does for our Team India & CSK. "

DanielAlexander: "Thala ku whistle podu means - Whistle to our chief (all hail our chief) "

Harini Venkatar: "Thala is not just leader. A leader for the leaders. Calling someone Thala in chennai means giving them a cult superstar status. Literally thala means head. Head of the team. Head of the country."

Not from Chennai: "What is whistle podu? What is thala? " --- My co-commentator Deiva, who is from Chennai, tells me thala means head or leader. Whistle podu, literally, means, well...whistle. I'm sure some others here can describe it better. Go for it, folks.

Baundule Gunodh: "This persistent drizzle is like a Dhoni innings. It has started slowly, staying till the end, now getting heavier, and ensuring what it is meant for."

Praveen Kumar : "I do not know if there were others. I was already saying this last week to my mom who keeps praying for rain that you will have it on 17th. Now, when was the last international match that actually completed here in Chennai. Probably , this is the ground with lot of washed out matches in last 20 years or so. Do we have any stats around this ?" --- I don't have any stats on hand for this, but one man called Karun Nair had a great time in a Chennai Test not long ago.

Subu: "The matches in India's recent tour to Sri Lanka had a reserve day to help with situation like these. Do we have anything like that on this series?" --- No reserve days.

Arun, Chepauk man: A message on the giant screen asking fans to whistle podu for Dhoni elicits a resounding collection of whistles.

Joel H: ""You can't hold a Champions Trophy or a World Cup in England" they say. "It always rains in England" they say... "

Pradeep: "@Ganesh: I doubt that. With Bhuvi, Bumrah and Chahal India's chance will increase when overs reduced. "

AMK: "Why don't you block Arun from entering the commentary room till the rains stop and play actually resumes ;-)" --- We'll consider this.

Sam Mangat: "I have to say that the only way to decide this is a good old fashioned bowl out. Stuff like that gets the heart-rate from 0 to 150 in seconds." --- Zero heart rate is a bad place to be because of stalled cricket, Sam.

krish: "Kohli as clever. He knew that its going to rain later in the evening. So he made the Aussies bowl and then he dont have to field for them. Just like in Galli cricket... Every Indian just wants to bat!"

Ganesh: "Better to have this game washed out than to resume. With a 25 over game and a 180ish target, India will definitely lose!"

Hapi: "Is there any rule that this game can be 20 overs instead of being called off?" --- Yes. If play resumes around 8:34pm, Australia will have to chase 159 in 20 overs. Any rain beyond that time and this game is finished.

More drizzle news from Arun, who says it has intensified. And some input from Sid Monga who said before Arun's update that this is the kind of rain where play would have continued if it had already been on.

gav: "How do you shrug aggressively? Shrugging is the symbol of neutrality " --- He shrugged and mouthed off at the same time. Quite a trick.

Shivam: "What is the penalty levied on Aussies because of their slow run rate? Just a financial fine or any changes to the scoreline?" --- Monetary fine and demerit points to Smith.

7:30pm Just over an hour remaining before this game can be called off. Some time around 8:34pm according to the Chepauk scorers.

7:27pm Okay, now the Indian team is walking back into the dressing room.

7:26pm You can scream the expletives on my behalf. There's some confusion. India are still on the field. For a moment, the groundsmen pause as they come on with the cover. The umpires ask them to stop. Then Kohli pesters them. Then Smith walks out and shrugs, aggressively. Then, the covers come on anyway. India are still on the field, though.

7:24pm Oh dear. Just as the batsmen walk up to the pitch, the rain's come down again. The covers have been pulled back on.

7:20pm Play will resume at 7.25pm. The target is 238 in 37 overs. Two bowlers can bowl a maximum of eight overs. Powerplay 1: 1-8, overs, PP2: 9-30 overs, PP3: 31-37 overs.

Arun, 7:19pm The Indian fielders are huddled near the boundary. There are signs of the Australian yellow too. Boy, this is a tease.

R Ashwin turns 31 today. Do you think we will see him mostly in whites in the coming years?

Arun: "Something to do with your name, Varun, that draws the rains to matches you cover. Speaking of covers, they are now coming off to a huge round of cheers. The stumps have been planted on the main wicket. Hopefully that's a good sign."

Saif: "Grounds for thought: When will cricket start having stadiums with roofs? It's becoming common enough in tennis. The roof can be a giant screen that displays commercials, so funding won't be a problem. At least grounds where it rains a lot should consider it."

P Mohan Prashan: "Can your supercool stats team look up the proportion of washed out matches by stadium and see if Chepauk's is the highest? I can vividly remember 3 matches - one test against AUS that IND could have easily won, an ODI against NZ around Diwali, a test/ODI against RSA. Depressing thought this :(" --- Hey, you should tweet to our supercool stats team. They have their own handle now - @ESPNcric_stats

7:06pm 'The drizzle has intensified now and the crowd senses that the game won't start anytime soon'. Guess who? Arun, your principal correspondent for bad news.

Sairam: "Here is the traditional cricinfo comment whenever there is a rain: My house is 8kms away from the ground, and not even the slightest of drizzles"

Arun at Chepauk: It's only a very slight drizzle, but annoyingly for the fans it is persistent.

6:48pm Scratch everything I said. The covers are coming back on. Giant sigh.

6:34pm Well, it seems we have lost overs, despite the earlier announcement. It seems Australia's slow over rate (26-27 minutes late) has cost them the 30 minutes. So, as per the rules we will now have a 43-over second innings. We're hearing that the revised target is 260. I'll give you a confirmation on that soon. The match will resume at 7 pm.

6:32pm Arun: India's support staff waste no time in setting up the stumps and other paraphernalia on the adjacent practice wicket. Bumrah and Chahal are having a bowl now

Arun has good news: The covers are coming off the square. Chepauk is in whistle-podu mode.

6:26pm Arun from the ground: "The supersoppers were out there doing their thing. Ropes were also being used to suck the moisture. What must be frustrating for the fans is there is very little rain in the air. But they're cheering now as the umpires have walked out to take a closer look. They're talking to the groundsmen."

5:55pm Rain isn't going away any time soon. The start will be delayed. More details soon. Another 35 minutes before we start losing overs.

5.30pm There is a slight drizzle in Chennai. Our correspondent Arun Venugopal says the square is being covered.

Earlier today PV Sindhu avenged herself against Nozomi Okuhara at the Korea Open and brought their developing rivalry to an even keel.

Nitesh Gupta: "Dhoni rescued India in his own style again!!! Start slowly, stay till end and blast at last :)"

Ravi Baddam : "Another masterclass innings by MSD... When team required, under pressure... At his second home stadium...."

Hardik Pandya: It feels pretty amazing to be honest. They were on top, and the pressure was there. We lost wickets, and it was important for me to make a partnership with MSD. I mean, I have learnt a lot from him, still learning. We were speaking how we needs to change things up. It is a pleasure to play with him. I was trying to hit out before the Zampa over as well. Generally my plan is hitting straight - I don't care if long-off is there or long-on is there. If I connect well, I know I will clear the boundary. When me and Mahi bhai were batting we were looking at 230. I will take 280.

Coulter-Nile and Cummins found swing and bounce in the early exchanges and made light work of India's top order. Kedar Jadhav flickered briefly before Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni staged a remarkable recovery. Pandya teed off against Zampa, smashing four successive boundaries. After Pandya fell for a career-best 83, Dhoni took over, brought up a fifty of his own. From 11 for 3 and then 87 for 5, India finish at 281 for 7 on a two-paced pitch. Be back in 40 minutes for Australia's reply

Kapil: "If on this track if Faulkner goes for 67, wonder where he can be successful. Poor bowling, no fine leg and long off. He just gave gifts to India. How can you as captain keep bowling him?"

Change of angle: around the wicket

Free-hit

Last over of the innings. Dhoni v Faulkner again.