India captain has always made fitness a non-negotiable subject while representing the country and very soon there could be a system where state team trainers have to follow the training routine of the senior national team.
The aim is to bridge the gulf in fitness standards between the national team and the state outfits so that young players can make a smooth transition from domestic to international cricket.
Recently, a workshop was held at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where Indian team's strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu held sessions with trainers of some of the state teams.
The trainers were made to undergo various tests, including physiological and tactical training.
India A coach Rahul Dravid and senior team fielding coach R Sridhar were also present during the workshop at the NCA.
It is learnt that Basu has been entrusted with chalking out a comprehensive strength and conditioning module, which the trainers of all BCCI units may have to adhere in the near future.
For modern day batsmen, "reaction ability" and "power enhancing" are two aspects on which the trainers will have to work upon.
"It is still at a fluid state but what many of us could gather is the fact that BCCI wants to bring in some kind of uniformity in its training module. One can view this from two sides. The first-class cricketers becoming fitter is one part but at the same time, the trainers also lifting their level by a notch is the other," a BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
As of now, various state teams have their own training system with a few having introduced Yo-Yo Tests but it's still not mandatory like the senior national team, where a player needs to score 16.1 to confirm his place in the squad.
There are two contrasting examples which gives us a fair idea as to why BCCI wants uniformity and adherence in the fitness regimes of all team across its rank.
"Ambati Rayudu had a brilliant IPL for Chennai Super Kings and was selected for India's limited overs leg of the England tour. But he failed Yo-Yo test and was dropped. Closer home, Akshdeep Nath failed a Yo-Yo test before the start of Uttar Pradesh's Ranji season but he wasn't dropped. Interestingly, he scored a hundred and the issue wasn't raised," the official said.
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