As the Indian Government started the process of easing out the lockdown norms enforced to fight the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian cricket team might be possibly returning to after the manoon ends, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to host camp in August-September window.
A BCCI official has revealed that the Indian board is mulling to host a camp for the cricketers in the August-September period with an aim to get them back into a good zone for the cricketing action after spending quite some time indoors due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
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The official told IANS, “Looking at getting ready for once monsoon ends. It should be around the August-September window that we will get the players together and work on their game and get them back into the zone. You have to understand that there is a muscle memory that needs tuning and these guys are all professionals. So, it will be more about the mental aspect than the physical aspect as they have already been working on their fitness even during the lockdown.”
On being asked if the National Cricket Academy (NCA) would be the venue, he said: “Too early to say that. Let inter-state movement get further relaxed, let’s see how things stand in a month or so and then we can decide on whether the camp will be at the NCA or somewhere else.”
Recently, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill both admitted that the players will need some time to fine-tune their game and work on the mental aspect at training post normalcy before returning to cricket.
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Iyer told IANS, “We will need a few net sessions for sure to get the timing back (as a batsman) and also to get the muscle memory working. Will be holding the bat after a while also to have players standing around as you face bowlers bowling at 140kph, it will not be easy to come back into that zone and it will need a few training sessions as also the mental memory to settle down completely.”
He further explained, “It is not going to be easy, but at the same time we are professionals and we have played for so many years to reach this stage, so it will not take us very long. It will be a good challenge for us to overcome and get started with cricket.”
Meanwhile, Gill pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has broken the players’ cricketing rhythm, adding: “Yes, it kind of broke the whole rhythm but it’s going to be the same for everyone. Once cricket returns, we have to put twice as much time to get back to the whole rhythm. To get back the touch, it’s going to take some time.”
He signed off by saying, “We have to put in some quality time on the field, especially during the practice sessions and net sessions. Once that happens for me it’s always more of a mental thing than a physical thing because I think the body reacts to the brain and reacts to the way we are thinking,”
(With IANS Inputs)
