BONDING AFTER THE BREAK

Sharp,short showers have been hitting the city of Bangalore over the past week,accompanied by a strong breeze that has kept the temperature hovering in the mid-20s.

Sharp,short showers have been hitting the city of Bangalore over the past week,accompanied by a strong breeze that has kept the temperature hovering in the mid-20s. But the Indian cricket team,looking to sweat it out after a rare long holiday,are hoping that the rain will stay away as they attempt to extract as much as they can from a tightly squeezed four-day training camp.

On the first day on Thursday,they slipped into a different shade of blue as coach Gary Kirsten dedicated one-fourth of the camp to connect with players rather than asking them to pick up bat or ball,reminding them that they are just one tournament-win away from the No 1 spot in one-dayers.

The one-day team has an 80 per cent win ratio. We take pride in our consistency. We would like to continue that, Kirsten told reporters. We feel that we have a quality team and the individuals are motivated to play for India. One of the things that we are proud of since facing Australia is that were playing as a team,and that we were playing for a big cause. There was a setback in the T20 World Cup,but it can happen to any world-class team. Were looking forward and were looking at what we can achieve. The team spirit and the team unity as good as it has ever been, the coach added.

The camp began with a post-breakfast meeting at the team hotel. It was more of an informal interaction,in which Kirsten and his staff,including bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh,briefed the team about the challenges of the coming season. The players were then asked,turn by turn,about their plans for the team,and their own personal objectives in the months to follow.

The second half of the day was dedicated to a fitness assessment,with the treadmills and barbells of the National Cricket Academy NCA put to good use. But the two questions hovering in the air were how Rahul Dravid back in the ODI format after almost two years would fit into the team,and how this short camp would suffice for two events in different parts of the world. We have to prepare differently, Kirsten said,addressing the second issue. How we use the time in South Africa to prepare for the Champions Trophy will be very important. We have to play only from the 26th there,so it gives us sufficient time to say that. In fact,Id say that the conditions there arent too different from Sri Lanka.

About Dravids inclusion,he added: Its good to have Rahul back,he adds massive value to the team with his experience. In all,we have a group of 20 to 25 players in Indian cricket who can make a massive contribution.

Outside the NCA,the Indian teams visit to the stadium was preceded by the usual ritual the nets and the surroundings were searched and sniffed,and security guards were everywhere as the day ended at the banquet hall for the unveiling of the BCCI8217;s new corporate tournament trophy.

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The action is expected to shift outdoors from Friday. The players have had a decent break,and its important for us to quickly get back on track. We need to assess where the guys are physically the nice break that theyve had has given them time to work on a few things and then to up the intensity, Kirsten said. Were going to be hitting a lot of balls over the next three to four days,were going to be bowling a lot,and then there are two weeks of one-day internationals ahead.