India take on Sri Lanka in the first of the five One-day Internationals on Sunday. (Source: AP)
Before India’s practice session in Dambulla on Friday, the team had a meeting on the fitness issue that lasted for about an hour. The whole squad had been apprised of the team management’s demand during the meeting. Both the team management and chief selector MSK Prasad are now in sync with the required fitness standards. It is, in fact, believed to be one of the chief reasons for Yuvraj Singh’s ouster. The aim is to become the top fielding side going into the 2019 World Cup. “First of all, talking about fitness, I think it’s really important for all of us to be fit. We spoke a lot about this. We had a meeting today. Everyone is really happy with this. From the senior-most guy like MS Dhoni to the youngest guy like Kuldeep (Yadav), we all agreed to this point,” said Manish Pandey at the press conference on Friday.
For players such as Pandey, who are electric on the field, it’s a happy situation. Because of their fielding, they feel more confident about their batting or bowling. However, in this Indian team, there’s no scope for complacency — only for improvement. The 27-year-old Karnataka batsman is coming back to the Indian team after suffering an injury (side strain) during the IPL. So he wants to work harder. “I should never be satisfied with this,” he said.
Maybe, to lead by example, captain Virat Kohli, alongside KL Rahul, had an intense fitness drill before the net session today. In fact, every player has his own fitness training which is followed throughout the year. For someone like Rahul, who is prone to injuries and is returning to the ODI squad after a gap of seven months, the emphasis is on getting fitter, minimising the risks of injuries. As Pandey put it: “It’s not only the cricket we play but also about the fitness and the tests we have at least twice a year. We all prepare for that as well.”
A lengthy home Test season (13 Tests in six months) last term saw India play only eight ODIs in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy in June this year. New Zealand stretched them before losing the five match-series 3-2. India then beat England 2-1. Going into the Champions Trophy, the fitness aspect had been hardly mentioned. Kedar Jadhav, one of the weak links in terms of fielding, bagged six wickets against New Zealand at an economy rate of 4.05. Then, he scored 232 runs in three matches against England.
Jasprit Bumrah, another one low on fielding reliability quotient, took 11 wickets in those two series and rapidly grew into a death-overs specialist. Yuvraj hammered a match-winning 127-ball 150 against England at Cuttack. The 180-run hiding against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final seems to have ushered in a different outlook towards team fitness and fielding. “After the Champions Trophy, we felt that we need to be a fitter and a stronger side, we felt that we need to raise our fitness levels. We are trying to fix some fitness parameters and whoever it is has to strictly adhere to those parameters. We have two to three phases in those parameters leading up to the 2019 World Cup and if someone fails to match to those parameters, he will not be considered irrespective of whoever it is,” chief selector MSK Prasad had said a few days ago.
Fitness vs skill
Fitness versus skill is an ongoing debate in modern cricket that thrives in limited-overs excesses. Former India captain Bishan Bedi had brought in a strict fitness regime, when he became the cricket manager in 1990. But eventually cost him the job. Bedi confessed that he did overdo the fitness part at times but it was basically meant for the reserves. He, however, felt that with regard to choosing between a match-winning batsman/bowler and a brilliant fielder, there could never be any dilemma.
“If you have to pick between a match-winning batsman or a bowler, and a super fielder, I don’t think you can be caught in a dilemma. At the end of the day, cricket matches across formats are still decided by the numbers of runs scored or wickets taken. See, nobody talked about the fitness part before the Champions Trophy final,” he told The Indian Express, adding: “(But) it’s up to the (present) team management to decide what is more important; outstanding fielders or match-winners with the bat or ball. So far this Indian team hasn’t been stretched at all.”
At the same time, Bedi criticised Prasad for ‘sugar-coating’ Yuvraj’s omission. “How can the chairman of the selection committee be scared of saying that Yuvraj was dropped? Why are you hiding behind the truth? It’s a selection committee which has to pick the best. So in the process if somebody gets dropped, so be it. Be brave. All good things must come to an end. Let’s accept it. Nobody is getting any younger,” he said.
Another former India captain preferred to read between lines. “If the team management wants to go to the 2019 World Cup with India being the best fielding side in the world, fair enough. But I think they are saying this (extra emphasis on fitness) to justify Yuvraj’s exclusion. I think it’s the end of the road for him (in international cricket). I see Dhoni also going in a few months. They (team management and selectors) have their viewpoints. I see things differently. I have my own perspective. If fitness/fielding supersedes skill, match-winning abilities with the bat or ball, then Sachin Tendulkar should have never played for India,” he said on condition of anonymity.
