India Postpone T20 World Cup Semi-final Practice Due To Lunar Eclipse. Their Reason: It's Inauspicious

The Indian cricket team is set to play England in the T20 World Cup semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Ahead of the high-intensity match, the Gautam Gambhir-coached side has two crucial days to give the finishing touches to their preparations. However, on Tuesday, the team delayed its practice session at the Wankhede Stadium due to the Lunar Eclipse. The session was pushed by an hour after initially being scheduled to start at 6 pm IST.

Insiders told NDTV that players felt it was inauspicious to practice before 6:47 pm IST. The players and support staff have been following several rituals during the World Cup, including temple visits. Some of the players, including captain Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and coach Gautam Gambhir, visited temples in every major centre.

While its the belief of the Indian cricket team members that lunar eclipse timing may be inauspicious, there is no scientific evidence backing it. 

A familiar rivalry will once again take centre stage as India and England lock horns in the second semi-final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. This is the third consecutive edition in which the two heavyweights will meet in the last four, having faced each other in the semi-final of the tournament's previous two editions in 2022 and 2024.

The upcoming clash in Mumbai continues a compelling semi-final sequence. In 2022, England halted India's campaign at the penultimate stage before going on to beat Pakistan to lift the trophy. Two years later, the script flipped. Led by Rohit Sharma, India defeated England in the 2024 semi-final and carried that momentum into the final, where they overcame South Africa in Barbados to claim the title.

Notably, in both recent editions, the winner of the India-England semi-final has gone on to become world champion, a statistical trend that adds further weight to Thursday's contest.

England have played six T20Is at the Wankhede Stadium so far, winning three and losing as many. India, meanwhile, have played seven T20Is at the iconic venue, having won five of them. However, the Men in Blue haven't lost a T20I at the venue since December 2017.

 With IANS inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team T20 World Cup 2026 Suryakumar Yadav Gautam Gambhir Abhishek Sharma Cricket