Rains marred the Indian cricket team's practice on Thursday at Southampton, where Rahul Dravid's men were halting due to accommodation problem at Hove, the venue for their four-day warm-up match against Sussex.

The Indian team, which began its grueling tour of the United Kingdom with a morale-boosting one-day series triumph over the South Africans, practiced for about 75 minutes, including some indoor sessions due to rain interruptions.

The team will again practice here on Friday and would be able to shift to Hove only on Saturday, which is the opening day of the match, team sources said.

Besides, the cricketers also utilised their time to unwind and gel as a team before the series against England gets underway.

The Indians are also scheduled to play with England 'A' in a three-day game starting July 13 before the first Test gets underway at the Lord's on July 19.