The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Fitness camp for fast bowlers begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Fitness camp for fast bowlers begins

BANGALORE, JUNE 8. A toothy grin is his signature statement. But give him a cricket ball and Balaji does indeed ask a few emphatic queries that leave batsmen confused. In the recent Test series against Pakistan, Balaji's 12 wickets played a big role in India's 2-1 series triumph.

The lanky bowler from Chennai has come a long way since his forgettable debut one-dayer against the West Indies at Vadodara, a few seasons back. Today, confidence is his greatest ally. And confidence did echo in his interaction with the media on the opening day of the fast bowlers fitness camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here on Tuesday.

"The last season was very good, especially the two tours (to Australia and Pakistan). Now, I am looking forward to this season's matches. I think it will be tough as they are going to be held in the Sub-Continent," Balaji said.

Balaji termed the recent tour of England with his club side — Jolly Rovers — as `very good'. "We beat Nottingham County twice and I also had six sessions with Mike Hendrick. He asked me to concentrate in the pause in delivery stride, the run-up and a smooth rhythm with gradual build-up of pace. He also mentioned the need to make the batsmen wait," Balaji said.

On the off-season break, Balaji said, "it was three weeks of swimming, cycling and running. We were told to skip bowling a bit in our off-season training charts. We hope this camp will help get back to peak fitness. I aim to gain strength mentally and physically and I am just focussing on my line and length as it was in the last season too."

Stress on fitness

Earlier, the Indian team trainer Gregory Allen King expressed his satisfaction over the timing of the camp. "I am happy with the time and duration of the camp," he said.

King, who stepped into Adrian Le Roux's shoes and has proved to be a worthy successor, reiterated that fitness would be the reigning motif of the camp. "The camp's focus is on fitness training and not on treatment of injury. Exercises will focus on strength training, core stability, speed and endurance training. There will also be specific exercises for some players. There will also be a bit of bowling and throwing though all that will be considered as part of the fitness training schedule," King said.

On the injury woes of Indian bowlers, King attributed the reasons to "a combination of high volume of cricket and strength deficiency in certain areas." He, however, expressed confidence in the rising standards of fitness levels in Indian cricket.

The camp's first day focussed on testing the players' fitness levels. — Our Sports Reporter

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport