— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

HOPE FOR THE BEST: Virender Sehwag expressed happiness at the conclusion of the camp and the Indians will be hoping to get back to winning ways in one-dayers.

Bangalore: Living in tents and handling obstacle courses in army drills might not have flashed across Indian cricketers' minds when they assembled for a fitness camp in Bangalore last week. However, after having gone through it and many more, the players are obviously happy and winged their way back home after the conclusion of the camp here on Tuesday.

Leadership role

The camp got a thumbs-up as both trainer Gregory King and vice-captain Virender Sehwag expressed their happiness over the experience gained. The duo addressed the media at the National Cricket Academy premises. "The drills at both Pegasus and at the army base (Parachute Regiment Training Centre) were very interesting. For instance, at Pegasus, all the players got a chance to be a leader in their respective groups. That was a unique thing as very often in cricket, the leadership role is restricted to Rahul, Sachin and others like me in the team-management group. Here everyone could lead and that was a good learning experience," Sehwag said.

On donning army fatigues and enduring the grind at the PRTC on Monday, Sehwag said: "We were exposed to a lot of army training methods. Physically we managed, but mentally it was tough. We learnt not only about battling for yourself but also about your partner in a distress situation. These experiences do help, because in cricket, running between the wickets is very crucial. You and your partner should have a good understanding."

Wright's book

Sehwag also played the waiting game to perfection, and refused to get into a debate on former coach John Wright's book, Sourav Ganguly's probable comeback and the constant flux vis-à-vis his one-day opening partners.

"You have to ask John (Wright) rather than me," Sehwag said before opening up guardedly. "Look, obviously a selector might recommend a player who has played very well in his zone but even if he recommends a name, the other four selectors have to agree. Decisions go by consensus but then again I have never sat in a selection committee meeting, while John is very experienced on that count. All I can say is that if a player is very talented, it does not matter which zone he is from, he will get a chance to play for the country."

On Ganguly and opening partners, Sehwag said: "Anyone who is doing well in domestic cricket can get back. In the last few seasons, Akash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir also were dropped. As for partners, I never think too much about that. In one-dayers it is usually Sachin, but then he got injured and Robin Uthappa was selected, later when he could not get in to the eleven, Rahul opened but now with Sachin back, I guess it is going to be Sachin and I as openers."

Brains over brawn

The spirit of the fitness camp was neatly summed up by Gregory King when he said, "the camp was not just about brute force, it involved a lot of thinking especially in the drills we did at Pegasus and at the defence establishment. You also could not do all those tasks on your own, you needed others to chip in and that helped the team sessions. These training stints helped the players communicate more, bounce ideas of each other and all these were part of our efforts to provide something new to them. As for repeating it, well if we repeat it then it can get boring at times so we will continue to provide them newer experiences."

King also mentioned the inextricable twine between fitness and fate with disarming candour. "Sometimes you get lucky as well," King said while queried on better fitness levels in the Indian camp. "Look the players do have a basic level of conditioning when they do come for these camps and, as for fitness, we do a lot of things which other teams do as well, but sometimes you have these acute injuries due to some freak accidents, and it does happen in sport," King said.

The players will reassemble here again on August 6 for a four-day cricket-skills camp helmed by coach Greg Chappell.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar left for Mumbai on Tuesday morning as there was a bereavement in his family.

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