Sports India

Indian cricketers sweating it out at the National Cricket Academy in the pre-season conditioning camp has been a regular sight over the last few years, but it is all set to change a wee bit this time around. In a press conference here on Tuesday afternoon to announce the commencement of the fitness camp, trainer Gregory King revealed that the players would be whisked away to an undisclosed location away from Bangalore for a rigorous training session for the next three days.

Evading queries

King was a picture of charm and sealed lips literally as he deftly evaded probing queries from the media about the whereabouts of the training location. “We will be leaving early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning for a facility outside Bangalore. We will be doing teaming activities, group training and also some leadership activities. Basically we will be there for three days and no media is to be present at that facility,” King said though he did add that an instructor from the training facility would brief the media about the camp details on July 29.

According to King, the players after returning to Bangalore will have a few tests at Hotel Ashok besides some relaxation sessions. “On 29th morning, there will be medical assessment, postural assessment, muscular skill assessment as well as some body composition assessment.

“Following that in the afternoon we will be doing a relaxation session that will include yoga, swimming, tai chi and massage. Basically the three days prior to that will be both physically and mentally demanding for the guys and so we are going to work on the recovery process too,” King said.

Fitness test

The players will have a fitness test at the NCA on July 30 and on July 31, they will have a morning session in an undisclosed defence establishment in the city. The camp will wind up with a morning session at the NCA on August 1. King also made it clear that the media would have access to all the outdoor sessions at the NCA while all the indoor sessions besides other training stints, both in the outskirts as well as in a defence establishment, will be closed-door affairs.

On the veil of secrecy shrouding the players’ training venues, King said: “I am trying to keep it quiet from the players as well. I want them to be unprepared for the next three days. So it is not that I am trying to keep it away from you in the media but it’s more about keeping it away from the players. Basically we have been doing similar camps at the NCA for the last three years and so we would like to try something different and take them out of the environment that they are used to. The idea for this basically came from the team management that sat down and discussed what is the best way forward in these fitness camps,” King said.

Comeback men

Queried on the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, L. Balaji and Murali Kartik, who are all coming back from injuries, King said: “As far as I am aware from the fitness reports that are available with physio John Gloster, Sachin’s fitness levels are normal, so he is fit to be selected. From my own perspective I will know a better picture when I see Sachin in practice. As regards Balaji and Kartik, most of my feedback is from the interaction that Gloster had with them in Chennai and Delhi respectively. As far as I am aware, Kartik is in the early stages of his rehabilitation.”

When prodded on why Bangalore was preferred over Chennai which has a similar weather pattern to Colombo — the venue of next month’s tri-series, King said: “Look we have raised this issue before. What happened when we practised once in Chennai before was that the guys were actually so drained by the time they got to Sri Lanka. So we opted to train in Bangalore and we have got more than enough time in Colombo to acclimatise.”

Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina practised at the KSCA (B) ground, while the rest of the players have started arriving in batches. Virender Sehwag and V.V.S. Laxman arrived by afternoon flights and the rest are scheduled to arrive at staggered timings.

The trio of King, Gloster and bio mechanist Ian Frazer will co-ordinate the functioning of the camp while coach Greg Chappell, who is away in the United States on a private visit, will arrive on July 4 ahead of the cricket skills camp from August 6 to 9.

Different ideas

The current fitness camp will have its accent on spouting different ideas and training methods to the players.

“The idea in having the camp at different places is to give a new and different experience to the players. For instance, tai chi, a martial art is supposed to help improve concentration and focus. Of course we are experimenting and having only one session of it but it is all part of the desire to provide something new to the players.

“We do get a lot of feedback from the players and we are constantly trying new strategies and methods, and let me be honest, some of them don’t succeed and those experiments are left on the wayside, but with the ones that work, and the ones that get a positive feedback from players, we persist with them,'’ King said.