After a marked improvement in the physical fitness of the Indian cricketers, it is strengthening of their minds that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now looking into. The final phase of the pre-season camp at Bangalore will see the cricketers, besides sweating out on the field and at the gym, attending a series of pep talk sessions. With specific purpose in mind, leading personalities from diverse fields have been invited to interact with the cricketers. Television personality Pranoy Roy will focus on the nuances of handling the media while globally respected sports stars — Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi — will talk about the conduct of an international player. And if things work out as BCCI desires, there are plans to get Infosys chief NR Narayanmurthy to talk on inspiration and ways to sustain a success story. With those high-tension games against Pakistan in mind, efforts are also on to rope in a Kargil war hero! BCCI media manager Amrit Mathur, who is coordinating this idea, said the basis of selecting these expert was simple, ‘‘We first looked at our players’ necessity and the areas which they needed to develop. After that we got the best in business.’’ He added that ‘‘this was in the pipeline for long. We didn’t have the right opportunity to get everyone on one stage. Since this was the start of a new season, we thought it fit to start from right here.’’ The Bangalore camp is expected to be besieged with more visitors, who will share their expert knowledge with the players. Pune-based yoga expert BKS Iyengar will hold sessions with players while legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev will share his experience with pace bowlers. FOCUS ON PACE Meanwhile, the 36 probables who trained at the KSCA from August 13-26 will be joined by three county pros — vice-captain Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif. Chairman of selectors Brijesh Patel, also the secretary of KSCA, informed that the camp would focus mainly on issues which are cricket specific along with fitness sessions. Patel also added that the team management had specifically requested for nine fast bowlers including Tinu Yohannan and Rakesh Patel to be present during the six-day camp. Bowlers invited: Tinu Yohannan and Srishanth (both Kerala), VRV Singh and Amit Uniyal (both Punjab), Sourav Sarkar and Shabbir Ali (both Bengal), RP Singh (UP), Munaf Patel (Gujarat) and Rakesh Patel (Baroda).
