Kolkata camp gets underway

The Indians will take on Pakistan in the opening one-dayer of the series on November 5 in Guwahati. And this two-day camp at Eden Gardens is the players’ only chance of recharging themselves ahead of the gruelling five-ODI, three-Test series.

Barring Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, the rest of the players reached the city this morning, accompanied by manager Lalchand Rajput and specialist coaches Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh. Yuvraj came in late in the evening while Gambhir will arrive in Kolkata tomorrow since he was playing in the Pakistan-Delhi XI warm-up match. Sehwag is expected to fly directly to Guwahati.

Overnight rains had raised questions over the feasibility of the camp, but a sunny afternoon meant — hosts Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) officials heaved a sigh of relief — the Indian players started their practice session.

With Eden’s floodlights on, Sachin Tendulkar & Co underwent long sessions at the nets, evidently looking to find some rhythm before leaving for Guwahati, where, thanks to the BCCI’s scheduling, the players are unlikely to get much practice ahead of the match at the Nehru Stadium.

The bowlers, led by Zaheer Khan, didn’t really exert themselves in the soggy conditions, restricting themselves to short run-ups at the nets. But the batsmen had a full go till late into the evening.

Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were the first to hit the nets. With Rahul Dravid being shown the door, the two veteran openers will have to shoulder the batting against Pakistan in the first two ODIs.

It is another matter that both the stalwart batsmen faltered every now and then, even against the local net bowlers.

The players will have two separate sessions tomorrow, one in the morning and the next one under lights again, before setting off for Guwahati on November 4.