T20 World Cup: Eclipse forces India to delay training

It is an unusual sight for Mumbai to have empty roads on a Tuesday. But the holiday to mark the festival of Holi meant the city roads could breathe easy. And the superstition about staying inside during an eclipse made the evening wear a deserted look.

The scenes inside the Wankhede Stadium were no different. The Indian team, which was expected to start its practice session at 6pm, began the proceedings around 7:20pm. The delay was not tactical. Rather, the galleries of the stadium echoed with rumours that the Indian team deliberately delayed the start of practice, waiting for the end of the eclipse, which ended at 6:47pm.

Starting anything important during an eclipse is generally considered inauspicious in many cultural and astrological traditions.

The England team, though, practised till 5pm, not bothered by the superstition of the eclipse, which started at 3:20pm.

The Gautam Gambhir-coached India have two days to give the finishing touches to their preparations. During practice, Gambhir had a keen look at the pitch. He had a long interaction with a team of curators before skipper Suryakumar Yadav joined the group. After the discussion, the two moved towards the practice area, while the groundsmen were asked to cover the pitch.

During the practice session, Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel was seen giving special instructions to Axar Patel, asking him to bowl at a specific length and a specific pace. Rinku Singh was tasked to face throwdowns alongside Hardik Pandya, while Indian opener Abhishek Sharma surprisingly spent some time bowling and later sat idly with Patel behind the nets.