No rain, no wet outfield… then why did the India-England 5th T20 match start late? Know the reason

New Delhi. Delays in matches and toss have often been seen on cricket grounds due to rain, bad light or wet outfield. But in the fifth T20 International match being played between India and England, such a unique and surprising sight was seen which surprised everyone from cricket fans to greats. The toss of this match had to be postponed because the Indian team could not reach the field on time. She was stuck in a traffic jam on the way. This incident has become a topic of discussion from social media to cricket circles. Let us know what happened on the field and in the commentary box during this entire incident.

At 6:30 pm Indian time, when both the captains should have been in the middle of the field with the coin, only the host England team was visible on the ‘Rose Bowl’ ground of Southampton. Jos Buttler and his army were warming up on the field with full gusto, but there was no sign of the Indian team captained by Shreyas Iyer. Generally, as per the strict protocol of international cricket, it is mandatory for the teams to reach the stadium at least one and a half hour (90 minutes) before the time of toss. This time is given to the players to prepare mentally and physically for the match, inspect the pitch and complete the warm-up session. But in this match the rules were completely flouted.

Indian team arrived late by 90 to 100 minutes
The pictures seen in the live broadcast made it clear that something unexpected had happened with the Indian team. Finally, at around 6:36 pm, the Indian team bus entered the premises of the Rose Bowl Stadium. According to the fixed schedule, the team should have been on the ground by 5:00 pm, which means the Indian team arrived late by about 90 to 100 minutes. As soon as they got off the bus, panic could be clearly seen on the faces of the players. The first Indian player to step on the field was fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, who ran straight for warm-up at 6:40 pm. The players were forced to handle the kit bags and run straight towards the field.

‘Learn something from Mumbai Police’
Seeing this unprecedented situation, India’s former head coach and veteran commentator Ravi Shastri, sitting in the commentary box, was seen in his usual witty style. He not only lightened the atmosphere by laughing at this incident, but also took a dig at this failure of the traffic jam. Shastri laughingly said during the broadcast, ‘In my cricket career of so many years, I have never seen that the toss of the match had to be postponed due to any team being stuck in traffic. The Indian team is very late. The toss should have been done by now. There is no competition for our Mumbai Police in this matter, full credit goes to them. The British administration should have been proactive like the Mumbai Police instead of sitting idly by.

What will be the impact on India of not getting warm-up?
Even though this incident may sound a bit funny, it can prove to be very harmful for the Indian team from the sporting point of view. For high-performance athletes, pre-match warm-up is the most important part of preparing their bodies for intense physical activity. This delay may affect Indian players in this way. Fast bowlers and spinners have to ‘open up’ the body completely before bowling their first ball in the match. Bowling directly without warm-up increases the risk of muscle strain or injury manifold.

Toss will take place at 7:15 pm
Meanwhile, a relief news also came out from the field for the cricket lovers. After some uncertainty, it was officially confirmed that the toss of this match between India and England will be at 7:15 pm Indian time, while the match will be started with a delay of half an hour at 7:30 pm. This delay of 30 minutes definitely gave some respite to the Indian team, which arrived after suffering the brunt of traffic, so that the players could come on the field and complete the much-needed warm-up and stretching as soon as possible.