Coach Kirsten keeps it simple

The answer, to some extent, was visible in what transpired over the next three-and-a-half hours.

In the beginning, Kirsten just stood talking to captain Anil Kumble, while Upton took charge. The mental and physical conditioning coach, who also has the fancy title of ‘strategic leadership coach’, began with Sreesanth — a casual chat peppered with good humour to set the tone for the proceedings.

Upton then spoke to each of the bowlers, including RP Singh and Zaheer Khan, who are returning from injuries (Zaheer was at the nets even though he’s not playing in the series). Later, he turned his focus completely on Virender Sehwag, who’s set to open the batting along with Wasim Jaffer. The two had a 45-minute chat away from the nets. It was during this time that Kirsten took over, directing the bowlers and batsmen on how to go about their business.

There had been some excitement over Kirsten and Upton bringing in some new innovations in training — perhaps because of the sudden changes that their predecessors Greg Chappell and Ian Frazer had made right after taking over. But nothing extraordinary happened.

Instead, only six batsmen — Jaffer, Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni — padded up. The rest, including Sourav Ganguly, only bowled for the better part of the afternoon.

As more than a couple of players said after the session, the day was spent discussing ideas, sharing thoughts, and not immediately getting down to what is right and wrong. “There was no time wasted in the practice session. With Gary taking over, man-management and facilities are a lot better,” said Virender Sehwag.

“It was an enjoyable session,” said another player, saying the team India is looking to continue stay in the state of mind they had during the Australian tour.