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Bangalore: India needs its players to focus more on their fitness, employ a sensible rotation policy and use the National Cricket Academy to build a bridge between its reserve pool and the senior team to counter the hectic international schedule that awaits the team from September. That's the vision of Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach, who hopes his top players can avoid the kind of burnout that forced Andrew Flintoff off Test cricket.
Prasad said that cramped schedules, due to the advent of Twenty20 cricket, is an unavoidable reality and international players can survive only by ensuring that they stay fit to play all the matches. Asked to outline his blueprint for the Indian team over the next 12 months, Prasad said that the BCCI's pool of contracted players should have regular sessions at the NCA in Bangalore, even while the national squad is touring, so that they are ready for international duty at any given point of time. He also backed a rotation policy but one that is applied in a judicious manner where an in-form player is not rested just for the sake of rotation.
Prasad, however, refused to blame the IPL for the team's poor performance in the ICC World Twenty20 last month and said that the Indian league was the best possible preparation for the event.
The Indian players are currently on a two-month break after the West Indies series ended on July 5 but face a tough stretch from September up to the next ICC World Twenty20 in May, starting with an ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, the Champions Trophy, the Champions League, an ODI tri-series in Bangladesh, a home Test series against Sri Lanka, a home ODI series against South Africa and the third IPL in March-April.
"To tackle such a schedule, you got to have a good pool of players, whether they are fast bowlers, spinners or batsmen, which I think India has in terms of about 37 contracted players," Prasad told Cricinfo. "But when the senior team is touring, what are the other players in the contracted pool who are not involved doing, especially when they are not playing domestic cricket? Are they working on their fitness? Are they coming to the NCA? I have no idea.
"When there is a centre of excellence like the NCA, the reserve players should regularly make use of the facilities there, in terms of a qualified physical trainer, physiotherapist and other facilities like top quality nets. The NCA should not be used only for rehabilitation, as a facility that will help you recover from injuries. We gave got a lot of amazing talent and ability, but you can maximise this only by becoming stronger, fitter and faster."
India's fast bowling at the international level is currently being handled by Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh with support from Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Irfan Pathan but all of them have missed a number of games over the last year due to injuries. Sreesanth, the other fast bowler in the frame, has been out of Test cricket for over a year now due to a back injury.
When you play cricket at the highest level, you have to maintain your fitness and that's absolutely essential. That's one area where there's no question of compromise.
