Hardik hammers in nets, Abhishek shines as India resume practice post eclipse

Hardik Pandya

Cricketers are known for their superstitions. And Team India's practice session at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, originally scheduled from 6pm to 9pm, was postponed by an hour owing to a lunar eclipse.

The eclipse lasted from 03.20pm to 06.47pm and it is traditionally believed that people should not do any good thing during this period. In fact, right up to the time the Indian team arrived at the ground (a few minutes before 7pm) the floodlights at the venue had been kept off. As soon as the team arrived, skipper Suryakumar and head coach Gautam Gambhir straightaway went to take a closer look at the pitch and spent a few minutes observing the surface.

Pacers Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube bowled to Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, while Jasprit Bumrah spent around half-an-hour doing some spot-bowling at a nearby net. Interestingly, all-rounder Hardik Pandya was among the first to bat, while attacking opener Abhishek Sharma began by bowling his left-arm spin and then taking high catches near the boundary rope.

He also did some batting and was seen playing some big shots in the ‘V'.