|
The Chennai Conditioning
Camp
"We are ready for
the knock out".
- Saurav Ganguly
 It was business as usual for the cricketers
on the day before the close of the conditioning
camp in Chennai. The team is back to its full
strength with the arrival of Captain, Saurav
Ganguly, Vice-Captain, Rahul Dravid
and 'Mr. Perfect 10' Anil Kumble
who have returned from their respective county
assignments.
Having declared his intention to concentrate
on the bowlers and also make the batsmen focus
on their bowling, the Indian Coach had Tendulkar,
Rahul Dravid and Sriram turn their
arms over at the nets.
There was also Sachin and Hemang Badani
alternating between bowling to tail-ender Venkatesh
Prasad in simulated match conditions. 'Last
ball - three runs', the count read, as Sachin
flipped one to Prasad who, glancing it down to
third man, claimed three runs. Probably the Indians
don't want to be caught in a 'Catch 22' situation
as in the last World cup in the match against
Zimbabwe, (which they lost by three runs because
the tail enders could not contribute).
 In a chat with the reporters, Andrew Leipus,
the Team's Physical Trainer, said that fitness
and strength were important for a game like Cricket,
where it is about endurance and explosive power.
A batsmen running for a single or a bowler releasing
the ball or a fielder throwing the ball flat and
hard…. all this involves explosive power. Standing
on the field for long hours while fielding or
even while playing in harsh conditions, requires
endurance and strength. He stressed the importance
of conditioning camps like these because they
help the players warm up for matches and tone
their bodies.
Answering  to a query as to whether we have enough allrounders,
Coach Anshuman Gaekwad said, "Besides
Robin, Yuvaraj also does bowl a bit and
Hemang Badani bowls as well and this little bit
of bowling, little bit of batting does always
help. They have got tremendous potential and Robin
Singh's experience is certainly going to help".
There are three new faces in the team, while
Karnataka speedster Venkatesh Prasad and
Mumbai batsman Vinod Kambli earn a recall.
The three new faces in the final fourteen are
Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Vijay
Dahiya.
|
