Rain forces Indians to train indoors

India’s efforts to get their bearings right ahead of their mouth-watering Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan suffered for a second straight day, thanks to rain that forced them to train indoors.

After being asked to train in a very compact facility here in Edgbaston on Thursday that didn't please the players (mainly fast bowlers), the Men in Blue’s preparation took another hit as a heavy downpour left them with no option but to train indoors. They were originally scheduled to sweat it out at the outdoor Colts Nets in the stadium complex.

Once again the affected lot were the fast bowlers with the spinners being added to that list. On Thursday the fast bowlers couldn’t take their complete run-up because the ‘nets’ didn't offer them adequate space. And on Friday, with the indoor facility being concrete, the bowlers were simply seen cooling their heels while the batsmen got themselves a decent hit.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, M S Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja slogged it out as head coach Anil Kumble and Raghavindraa gave some serious throw-downs.

Captain-coach tension
Although Kumble was actively involved with the happenings and sported a smile every now and then, the tension between him and captain Virat Kohli was apparent with hardly any words exchanged between them.

Kumble’s tenure is coming to an end at the conclusion of the Champions Trophy and while he is an automatic entry to the list of applicants for the coach’s job, reports of Kohli’s unhappiness with him makes it an interesting few days ahead.