Rain spoils IPL restart, dampens tribute to Kohli

RAIN forced a washout in IPL's restart on Saturday (17) with holders Kolkata Knight Riders knocked out of the play-off race as they shared one point each with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The T20 tournament resumed at Benglauru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium but unrelenting rain kept the players off the field and the match was eventually abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Kolkata with six defeats and five wins bow out of the play-off race. Bengaluru with eight victories top the 10-team table and are all but through to the playoffs.

But the crowd in Bengaluru returned disappointed as many Virat Kohli fans turned up in white jerseys to pay tribute to the star batsman after his Test retirement.

Kohli earlier this week joined India captain Rohit Sharma in leaving the five-day format.

The 36-year-old Kohli broke the news on Monday (12) and would have made his first appearance on the field since the announcement with his IPL team Bengaluru.

In the stands were a multitude of Kohli fans wearing his white Test jersey with number 18 on the back.

The IPL was paused last week due a deadly conflict between India and Pakistan and officials decided to resume the tournament after a ceasefire.

The final few matches will be played in Bengaluru, Jaipur, Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Some foreign players, including Australia's Mitchell Starc, have been unable to return because of the IPL's revised schedule, which clashes with the international calender.

England player Jos Buttler will miss the playoffs if his team Gujarat Titans advance as England host the West Indies in a white-ball series starting May 29.

Starc's Delhi Capitals were playing in Dharamsala when their match with Punjab Kings was abandoned on May 8 because of what officials said was floodlight failure.

Dharamsala is less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the town of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier the same day.

The playoffs begin on May 29 with the first qualifier and the final scheduled for June 3.

Kolkata joined Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals to be out of the play-off race.

(Agencies)