TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: It’s been three days since the Indian cricket team landed in Dubai and the majority of that time has been spent at the ICC Academy. There is very little gap between their first two games versus Bangladesh (February 20) and Pakistan (February 23), and it wasn’t a surprise to see the Men in Blue sweat it out for hours at the global cricket body’s training facilities not far from the venue of Champions Trophy fixtures.
The bowlers had extended spells, batters didn’t want to come out of the nets, the fielding coach ensured everyone underwent extended drills and the physios, strength & conditioning coach had a customised recovery plan for every individual.
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On both days – February 16 and February 17 – every squad member applied those crucial touches to their respective game before the multi-nation tournament gets underway. The order in which they honed their skills could be a subtle hint of the Playing XI, for the first game at least, but that had no say on the intensity they operated with.
Shubman Gill might have created a record of sorts for the hours he spent batting; Rishabh Pant played with pain but smashed plenty with disdain; Rohit Sharma looked to find that touch; Virat Kohli seemed assured; KL Rahul flexed his batting muscle but the highlight across sessions was the batting of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya. The two were at their belligerent best and were severe against spin. A lot of ball-watching was essential as they smashed plenty out of the training ground and kept everyone on their toes.
As far as bowlers are concerned, Mohammed Shami put fitness concerns, if any, to rest as the experienced seamer bowled lengthy spells during both sessions. He still has compression sleeves protecting the knees but there was no lack of rhythm when he operated with the new ball with Arshdeep Singh before Harshit Rana joined in the fast-bowling net. The spinners – all five of them – had the far net and there were plenty of fireworks as batters went bang, bang from the word go.
Amid all the action and high-intensity preparations, the mood remained very upbeat as the players engaged in regular banter with each other. The warm-up and fielding drills served a lot of entertainment, and Arshdeep Singh was on the receiving end of a lot of sledging from the opposite group when his turn to hit the target would come. Senior players Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya joined in, and even fielding coach T Dilip got rapturous cheers when he took a stylish catch in the deep with the big glove on.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was very upbeat and played his part in the fun activities before the serious business got underway. He would do plenty of one-on-one conversations with players and support staff but was mostly stationed between the three nets so that he could keep an equal eye on the action. The last two days could well have been the most intense training days of the Champions Trophy as the action will soon take centrestage and India could have a light session on eve of the match. There is a possibility of them training at the Dubai International Stadium to get a feel of the venue and get used to the ring of fire, which could be an issue for the first-timers as it has its own set of challenges and is very different from the usual tower floodlights.
The body language of all players was positive, the camaraderie was in full display and they seemed very relaxed during both afternoon and evening sessions. The little bit of free time was used by some players to take a trip to the famous Dubai Mall while most preferred food delivery from their preferred joints.
The action will take centrestage on February 20 but the Men in Blue have certainly managed to tick the boxes they would have liked during their little preparatory period.