Kapil, Gavaskar and More take matters in hand

Skipper Saurav Ganguly, who’d recently spent time with formar Australian batsman Greg Chappell Down Under, spent nearly an hour with Gavaskar. They were seen in animated discussion, the major focus being on dealing with short balls.

After a few minutes at the nets, Rahul Dravid approached Gavaskar and the ‘Little Master’ was seen divulging a few hints to him. Soon, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and SS Das also made beeline for him. Gavaskar would probably have been using his experience of battling the West Indian fast bowlers on their own turf to give the players tips on how to tackle McGrath, Lee and co in Australia. Towards the afternoon Gavaskar and Kapil took the batsmen and bowlers to separate rooms in the NCA for an interactive session. Kapil’s film on bowling actions is believed to have created much impact. After the talk, as John Wright looked on attentively, Kapil took the 16 fast bowlers to the nets and lectured them.

‘‘My role here is to explain the finer points of bowling. Fast bowling is all about bowling within yourself; every ball is important and it is like a game of chess, you have to plan every delivery’’, Kapil said.

His advice, he said, included tips on use of the crease, shining the ball and avoiding no-balls. The wicket-keepers — Thilak Naidu, Ajay Ratra and Parthiv Patel — had National selector Kiran More on hand to help them.