About a decade ago, the Indian players were not known for their fitness and lagged way behind the levels set by the players of other countries like New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. But this is not the case with a present lot of Indian players, their fitness levels are up there with the very best in the world. The Indian team staff should be given credit for this change in the dressing room.
Indian team’s current conditioning coach Shankar Basu has made mandatory to conduct random fitness tests to maintain the same intensity throughout the ongoing series. Indian cricket team’s coach Ravi Shastri and chief of selectors MSK Prasad have already made their ideas clear about the players being fit to make it to the Indian team. In every practice session, few players are put through a vigorous fitness schedule after their skill-set session.
In-form opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan has already gone through two tests in the ongoing tour, one before the second Test and one before the first ODI.
Talking to the press after his match-winning innings, Dhawan said,
“The fitness aspect has always been there. It is just that it is now more in prominence because it is very important that everyone in the team should be at the same level of fitness. This is because fitness is a major part in all three departments. One moment of poor fielding can change the momentum of the game.”
Dhawan is aware of the bench strength of the Indian team and feels all the players should be at par with the fitness levels to maintain a balance. He said,
“We have got good players. If one goes, there is always another player (to take up that spot), so we can afford to look at this aspect. There has to be a balance. If we don’t have a backup player of same ability, then we know that we cover it (fitness levels) up a little bit. Now, we know that we have that (great bench strength) so why not put more responsibility on the players who can come up and do a job for the team,”
Dhawan has realized that fitness is important in today’s game,
“In today’s cricket, it is not like 10 years back. Things were different earlier but now the game is very high paced and you have to be fit. And it is fair to expect so. If you are not fit, then the team has to bear that load and it is not fair on the team. It is something seen not just in Indian cricket but also every other cricket team like Australia, England, etc. They all have fitness parameters, and now, so do us.”