Dry root rot (DRR) of chickpea, caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola (Taub.) Butler [syn. Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid.], is an important disease associated with warm and moisture-deficit conditions. The present study was conducted at the Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Kalaburagi, Karnataka, to determine the timing of pathogen establishment and symptom expression in chickpea in relation to soil moisture and soil temperature. Three chickpea varieties, JG 11, KCD 11 and SA 1, were evaluated, with 200 seeds of each variety sown separately. Soil moisture and soil temperature were recorded at three-day intervals from 15 to 57 days after sowing (DAS). A seedling was collected at each observation date, the pathogen was first recovered from the roots of SA 1 at 24 DAS, whereas it was detected in JG 11 and KCD 11 at 27 DAS. Recovery from shoot tissues began at 33 DAS in SA 1 and at 39 DAS in JG 11 and KCD 11. The pathogen was subsequently recovered from both roots and shoots of all varieties up to 57 DAS. Visible DRR symptoms appeared at 57 DAS, when soil moisture had declined from 87.2% to 56.5%, while soil temperature ranged from 28.6 to 31.9°C. The results showed that as soil moisture decreased and soil temperature remained relatively high during the reproductive stage, latent infections progressed into visible dry root rot symptoms. The pathogen was detected in root tissues well before symptoms appeared in the field, indicating that infection occurs much earlier than symptom expression. Therefore, early detection of the pathogen in roots can help in better understanding the development and progression of the disease before visible symptoms become evident.