Rain in November and December is uncommon in Mumbai, but not too surprising either.
India and New Zealand canceled their practice sessions on Wednesday (December 1, 2021) ahead of the second and final Test at Wankhede due to unseasonal rain. Further rain is forecast in the next 24 hours, so the teams will not have a net session leading up to the game on Friday (December 3, 2021).
The MCA officials have complied with the request and spruced up the association's Bandra-Kurla facility where indoor cricket practice is available. "The team will practice at the BKC tomorrow (December 2). The request was received from the team management via the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and we are organizing things," said MCA secretary Sanjay Naik.
The BKC and the Wankhede, the venue of the Test, are 18 km adrift of each other and the team will be traveling on Thursday morning from its South Mumbai Hotel to the city's Western suburb.
The request to the MCA, it is understood, was an initiative by skipper Virat Kohli, who will be playing a competitive game after almost a month. He had skipped the three-match white-ball series and the first Test against the visiting New Zealand team. There was no such request from the visitors who, on the other hand, have scheduled their practice at the Wankhede on Thursday afternoon.
This will be the first international match in the city in almost 22 months (since the ODI against Australia on January 14, 2020). There are unlikely to be too many weather problems for the Test.