Roars in the Den

09 March, 2010 |

Other sides are worried about players' arrivals. Meanwhile, call it the luck of the draw, or the solid management, the Kings XI side have almost a full contingent at their training camp.

Waiting to Exhale
Yuvraj Singh and Sreeshant were at the nets last night and ready to fire. Yusuf Abdullah and Ramesh Powar put their minor coughs and colds aside and went through their paces. Irfan Pathan is of course there in the thick of things, while the scorcher Brett Lee is giving his all, even when batting. Reetinder Sodhi is out to prove himself and simply can't wait for action at the nets. He'll call a player to toss the ball to him and then wait for the coach's nod to bat in the nets. In the midst of the senior players, one must not forget that the Punjab side have valuable upcoming local talent.

All the Right Moves
Yuvi will be inspired by the Twenty20 World Cup being around the corner but will consider the IPL to be just as important. With the pressure of captaincy off, this is the ideal stage for him to come back after the wrist injury that kept him out of action for two weeks. Brett Lee, as usual, is meticulous about his schedule. Apart from the training sessions in the health club, this Lion mentally prepares for cricket action. Even after one of the practice matches finished at 11.30 in the night, he asked Assistant Coach Trevor Penny to toss him the ball down the centre wicket as he practised hitting sixes. The neighbours were awake as the ball consistently slammed the woodwork about ten rows back into the galleries.

Pumping it Up
Kings XI's training revolves around cardio and weights training which trainer Adrian conducts, helping about three or four players in the gymnasium at a time. Physiotherapist Patrick Falhart helps in the stretching and recovery between sprinting bursts. Then, there are is fielding practice at the Punjab Cricket Association's (PCA) stadium in Mohali. Practise matches, usually played under lights help the players play to situations, while the footage of these is discussed in video analysis sessions.

Smoothening the Edges
Then of course, the nets at the PCA help limber up the players and allow them to practise improvements, watched by the duo of High Performance Coach Alan Campbell and Assistant Coach Trevor Penny. One of the hallmarks of this Australian-Zimbabwe pair is to ask for a player's input first and how he would correct a defect or build upon a strength. Particularly in the closed-door environment of the video analysis session, the players are made to feel involved and the varied experience of the senior players from different parts of the globe kick in. All players are asked what takeaways they have had from the meetings.

Skipper Sangakarra and Tom Moody will arrive shortly. The team expects their fans to turn out in large numbers to support them. Will Season-III be the one when they bag the coveted IPL trophy? It'd be a good wager.