Shardul Thakur on Saturday (May 23) became the first India cricketer to resume his outdoor training after a two-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indian pacer took advantage of one of the MHA guidelines issued for the fourth phase of lockdown, stating that stadiums can be reopened from May 18 but without any crowd presence, and hit the ground running at his home in Palghar.
Thakur, who has played 1 Test, 11 ODIs and 15 T20Is for India, resumed training in a local ground at Boisar in Palghar district along with some domestic players, including Hardik Tamore, the Mumbai wicketkeeper batsman.
"Yes, we practised today. It was good and definitely pleasing to practice after two months," Thakur told PTI.
It is understood that all safety precautions were adopted while conducting this training session by the Palghar Dahanu Taluka Sports Association (PDTSA), with social distancing maintained and each player given his own set of disinfected balls to work with.
"All the safety measures were followed. The bowlers got their own balls which were disinfected and temperatures of the players who came for practise were also checked," a PDTSA official said.
Ajinkya Naik, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) council member, said: "Once the guidelines from the Palghar District collector (state government) was issued concerning sports, it was always the aim to begin training process."
"Due to our fantastic facility in Palghar district, we were able to facilitate much-needed training program to our esteemed players while adhering to social distancing norms and hygiene," he added.
The BCCI has been working closely with state associations to ensure players can resume individual training at a local level.
But with travelling restrictions still in place, the senior Indian team can't have its own national camp, which the team management would definitely want before the on-field play restarts.
(Inputs from PTI)
