It was not a typical evening in Mumbai.
Marine Drive, usually a congested artery of the city, was breathing easy on Tuesday. Churchgate, normally restless at that hour, seemed to pause for breath. Even the Wankhede Stadium seemed to be waiting.
Inside, the iconic venue was draped in semi-final colors for India’s clash with England. Yet the land itself sat in unaccustomed silence. Flags flew over the four practice lanes unattended. In a stadium normally alive with noise, it was strange, almost eerie. Team India is gearing up for the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Mumbai. (PTI photo)
England cleared at 5 p.m. For the next two hours, the earth fell into a rarefied vacuum.
India was waiting.
The lunar eclipse cast its shadow on the evening. In Indian cricket, sport and superstition have long shared the same dressing room. The team pushed their practice back so the celestial interruption passed.
At 7 p.m., Sutak got up. The Wankhede headlights roared to life. Silence rose with them.
India knew they only had one practice session under lights before the semi-finals. So despite the late start, every minute counted. India started training late due to lunar eclipse. (PTI photo)
The memory of theirs the opening game at the Wankhede against the USA was still reverberating. That night, Suryakumar Yadav called for a rescue act. There was still healthy grass on the pitch two days before the match, although it may not stay that way when Harry Brook and Suryakumar go to the toss on Saturday.
India is ready for any eventuality.
The training surfaces reflected this thinking. Four networks were available. Two were green and alive. Two resembled the dry, bare tracks typical of the subcontinent.
The opposition dictated the preparation. The pace of Jofr Archer. Sailors who take the pace. Leg corkscrew, corkscrew and left arm corkscrew.
Everything was simulated.
Still, even as the session unfolded with careful planning, one detail quickly stood out.
After an hour of the session, the rotation began. Tilak moved. Surya moved. Ishan and Samson moved. Hardik Pandya doesn’t.
If the lunar eclipse briefly dampened the evening, Hardik’s presence did the opposite. As the session picked up pace, he became the center around which the night slowly began to revolve.
Teammates came and went. Hardik stayed.
TEMPO TEST FOR THE BEST FOUR
The evening began in pairs.
Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav went towards the spinning nets. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan moved into the pace net. Far right, Rinku Singh quietly resumed batting for the first time since returning to camp after his father’s death.
Abhishek Sharma started his routine by bowling part-time.
And Hardik Pandya took guard.
His net stood to the right of the center lane. There was the thickest grass on the property.
For the spin nets, Suryakumar and Tilak settled quickly. Several balls were lifted into the stands. Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Abhishek Sharma all felt the power of their intent. The message was clear. India wanted their batting to be comfortable against spin.
For pace nets, the examination was harsher. Jasprit Bumrah trains ahead of the England semi-final. (PTI photo)
Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube provided Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson with a steady diet of bouncers. India expected this kind of hostility from Archer in the semi-finals.
One of Arshdeep’s bouncers hit Ishan’s helmet grill.
The opener paused, adjusted his helmet and continued.
DISASSEMBLY IS INTO THE STANDS
Hardik Pandya has already started in the neighboring net.
Around 19:30 the onslaught began.
There was no relaxation in it. No gentle rhythm.
The first few balls were hit hard. Full ships sailed for a long time. Long balls disappeared in the middle goal. Hardik Pandya continued to practice power hitting in the Indian nets. (Photo: PTI)
He didn’t find the timing right away. It almost didn’t matter.
Hardik never softened his swing. The ball was treated like an opponent that had to be subdued.
An hour passed. The batsmen were spinning the nets. Tilak and Surya faced the pacers. Samson and Ishan switched to spin. India’s top four continued its circuit.
Hardik Pandya stayed where he was.
Some balls connected cleanly. Some don’t. However, the intention never changed.
He was still aiming high, towards the upper floors of the Wankhede.
CATCH DRILLS CONSTANTLY
Meanwhile, another plot was unfolding nearby.
Abhishek Sharma spent time in a detailed high catch workout alongside Axar Patel and Shivam Dube. India waited until after 8pm for the players to practice tracking the ball against the dark sky.
The attention to catching was not accidental. India practice exercises. (PTI photo)
Abhishek dropped two chances against West Indies in the Indian Super 8 final match in Kolkata. Overall, India lost more than ten wickets in the tournament, the worst record among teams that have advanced to the Super 8s. Abhishek Sharma dropped two catches against West Indies. (PTI photo)
Yes, worse than Pakistan.
HARDIK GOES ON AND ON
Yet even as field drills unfolded on the sidelines, the sound that kept echoing across the ground came from the same place.
Hardik Pandya’s bat.
For the first two hours, the rhythm of the evening settled into a pattern.
Surya and Tilak rotating between spin and pace. Surya and Tilak also had a productive net session. (PTI photo)
Ishan and Sanju do the same.
Field training on the field.
And a swinging Hardik Pandya.
The first wave of batsmen left around 9:00 p.m.
Axar Patel was stuffing. Abhishek Sharma stepped into the net.
Hardik moved only because he had to.
He cleared the third net to make room for Abhishek and moved to another lane.
The strike continued.
QUICK SESSION FOR ABHISHEK
Abhishek’s own session was shorter than usual. He handled the off spin of Tilak Varma and the net bowlers with confidence. He even cleared the stands against Arshdeep Singh with a clean hit.
He was dismissed for 10 against the West Indies on Sunday and looked to be focused on form. Most of his drives went straight, through the V. Only later did he attempt cross-country shots against shorter balls.
The brevity of the session seemed intentional. Lighter workload. A clearer mind ahead of the semi-final at the Wankhede where Abhishek once smashed 135 off 54 balls against England.
It was around 9:15 p.m. Two hours until the meeting.
Sanju Samson is back to bowl. He changed ends and trained specifically for rebounders. Washington Sundar took the net on the far left. Shivam Dube was stuffing. Varun Chakravarthy ready to bat.
The players continued to rotate.
Hardik Pandya doesn’t. He was still there, still swinging with the same power he had shown when the lights first came on.
By this point, he had to face more than a hundred deliveries.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir watched closely. At one point he pointed to a slice that Hardik had dismissed against the West Indies. The message seemed clear. No slice. Pass the ball.
Towards the end of the session, Hardik hit a short arm to the back leg which flew high.
After almost three hours of batting, the force did not let up. If anything, it seemed to grow.
Gradually the nets were emptied. The field outside fell silent. Even the press box started to thin out.
Hardik Pandya stayed. Hardik Pandya remained in the net till 10pm on Tuesday. (Photo: Akshay Ramesh)
He finally moved away from the crease at exactly 10pm. Before leaving, he also thanked the net bowlers who endured the marathon with him.
It has been an uneven tournament for Hardik so far.
Two fifties in seven games, but not the fluency that usually defines him. The sound of the ball coming off his bat doesn’t have quite the same authority.
So on a quiet evening in Mumbai, after a lunar eclipse and inside an almost empty Wankhede Stadium, Hardik Pandya went looking again.
For three hours. In his lair.
The explosion may yet come against England.
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– The end
Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
04 March 2026 14:26 IST
