Mahendra Singh Dhoni had the words 'Have feet, will dance' emblazoned in silver across his black sleeveless t-shirt, and while breaking into a jig would've been the last thing on his mind at the end of a gruelling three-hour session at the Ferozeshah Kotla on a searingly hot Monday afternoon, he did have enough left in the tank to want a round of badminton at the indoor courts (unfortunately, he and RP Singh couldn't play for the lack of shuttlecocks).
The players hit top gear for a brief while even as the sun beat down upon them during a Team India fitness assessment session before another hard season ahead. It didn't take long for Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar to shed their tops in an attempt to counter the heat, while Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, RP, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh decided to stick to their Team India training gear.
The eight players completed the sprint-repeat schedule - running six sets between cones placed at variable distances - and the core training programme of push-ups, pull-ups and squats inside the gymnasium under the watchful eyes of coach Gary Kirsten, strategy head Paddy Upton and physio Nitin Patel even as fitness trainer Ramji Srinivasan noted down their Body Mass Index, heart rate and endurance levels. Nehra was spotted wearing a bandage on his bowling arm but the left-arm seamer is expected to be fit. Sources confirmed it was nothing serious and Nehra had suffered a slight bruise during fielding practice about a month back.
Kirsten, Upton and Patel arrived straight from the airport after a delayed flight even as players trickled in way past noon. The remaining players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, will be sweating it out on Tuesday in Mumbai.
"The players had enjoyed a long break and we wanted to assess their physical condition," Kirsten said. "We have conducted an assessment that we will keep as reference material. We will have more such tests in future and compare it with the results we have here. This is the beginning of our preparations for the coming season.
While the conditions bordered on the brutal - the maximum temperature in Delhi was 38 degrees Celsius on Monday - Kirsten said he didn't really mind that. "The heat might appear a bit too much but the more players stretch themselves, the more they will be tested. Hopefully when they give the next test in the cooler climes of Bangalore, they will shock me with their fitness levels," Kirsten, who even put himself through the sprint test along with Ishant and Nehra, said. "I must say that I am really happy with the players' physical condition," he added. Dhoni, meanwhile, only said that it was a "routine affair" before leaving for the airport.
Training camp from Aug 27
Team India will have a four day training camp at the National Cricket Academy from August 27. The camp is expected to focus on both physical conditioning and skills before the players disperse on August 30 to participate in the BCCI Corporate Cup. The team is expected to regroup on August 7 before leaving for the Sri Lanka tri-series.
