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Preparatory camp concludes

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

GEARING UP: Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh and Praveen Kumar during the practice session on Sunday.

Bangalore: As the Indian team bus moved out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises, a fan gesticulated to Yusuf Pathan.

The fan swung his arms as if hitting a six and Yusuf smiled. It may be the fan’s idea of lending advice to Yusuf and perhaps it fits into India’s slew of limited overs matches starting with the Tri-series match against New Zealand in Colombo on September 11, followed by the Champions Trophy in South Africa and a seven-match ODI series at home against the Australians in October-November.

However, as the four-day preparatory camp concluded at the National Cricket Academy here on Sunday afternoon, it was obvious that the team management led by coach Gary Kirsten preferred a judicious blend of smart batting laced with aggression rather than an all-out attacking approach as One-Day Internationals favour construction of partnerships and the final gallop in the slog overs.

The camp’s last day featured a morning session of nets as M.S. Dhoni’s men re-calibrated their batting and bowling skills. The batsmen led by the senior duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid had a long stint and even the lower-order combine of R.P. Singh and Amit Mishra batted for a long tenure.

Meanwhile, bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad monitored the Indian attack and seemed a happy man. “We are working specifically on bowling at the death. We worked on bowling more yorkers and mixing it up with slower deliveries. I am happy with the intensity displayed by the bowlers and though they are all coming in after a break, they look fit,” said Prasad.

Ishant Sharma bowled more in the nets along with Ashish Nehra while Harbhajan Singh suffered a scare when Dhoni slammed one back forcing the off-spinner to take evasive action in his follow through.

Harbhajan did a jig to make light of the situation and continued bowling. The players dispersed at noon as a majority of them geared up for the Sahara BCCI Corporate Trophy tournament commencing at Bangalore, Mohali, Dharamsala and Visakhapatnam on September 1.

The Indian team will leave for Sri Lanka on September 9 after the corporate tournament concludes on September 8.

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