Desperate times need desperate measures. With the second straight tournament involving India coming under the rain shadow, organisers here have taken an unconventional approach to stop the dark clouds from drifting towards the Kinrara Oval.

They have taken the help of a bomoh—that’s what a folk medicine practitioner is called in Malay. And this isn’t a sporting debut for the bomoh, whose job profile includes healing the sick by chanting mantras and using herbal remedies. He is a regular at sporting venues here that needs celestial help, be it warding off the evil spirit or dark clouds.

Tournament director Bredan McClement is amused when asked about the bomoh but agrees that he has been around. “Actually, he had even predicted an early finish to the West Indies game. As of today, I am not sure about the prediction,’’ he says. But with today’s game being abandoned and the teams sharing points, it seems that even bomoh too couldn’t do much about India’s recent rain jinx. —