Yesterday's washout may have dampened the spirit of fans here but for unbeaten India and NZ it's all about staying warm hereon
A bunch of colour-coordinated India fans wait for the rain to stop at Trent Bridge, Nottingham yesterday. India play Pakistan next in Manchester on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Nottingham: India will go into their high-voltage Pakistan match on Sunday without having played any cricket for six days, after their World Cup fixture against New Zealand was washed out at Trent Bridge here yesterday.
Not enough practice too
The Indians have managed to have just one batting session since their win over Australia at The Oval on June 9. The weather forecast in Manchester for the June 16 clash has already become the talking point here with the threat of rain looming again. But English weather can be fickle and unpredictable, just like India's next opponent — arch-rivals Pakistan.
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Team India are also getting used to handwarmers to tackle the chilly Manchester weather. "Handwarmers are the first option to keep your hands warm. Also, if you're running around on the ground between overs or between field positions and throwing the ball around to players, that also keeps you warm and doesn't allow the body to cool down. We practise in the same weather, so that also gives us a heads up," said India's fielding coach R Sridhar yesterday.
India working on direct hits
Though India are now considered to be among the top fielding units on view, one aspect that Sridhar sees scope for improvement in, is direct hits at the stumps. "In the last game, we had over 10 attempts but hit the stumps only once. On some days, we hit three out of five. It's all about practice, so that's one area we work hard on in every session," he said.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coach Gary Stead felt it's not difficult trying to keep the winning momentum going into their next match against South Africa. (NZ have won three out of three so far). "The first thing we'll do is have a couple of days off. We don't play again for six days now, so it's important to manage our breaks. While we haven't played, we're still prepared. Our last four trainings have all been indoors. We pride ourselves on our adaptability," said Stead.
Plenty of peeved fans at Nottingham
Many Indian supporters who have come from India spending large sums of money on tickets and especially those who had tickets for just this game, took to social media blaming the ICC for hosting the World Cup in the early part of the season where there are more chances of rain. They were also peeved that the ICC had not thought for keeping a reserve day for the matches, as had been done during the 1999 World Cup here in the UK, where matches could be carried into the second day.
- Santosh Suri
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