Pune camp: 'Players morale is high' says Kapil

For the first time since the match fixing story broke, questions on the subject took a backseat with both the Indian coach and the officials avoiding comment. The priority was only cricket for everyone at the 10 day preparatory camp at Pune. Former Indian captain Kapil Dev who was under pressure and considerable strain since his name was dragged into the betting and match fixing scandal was back at his mettle. The coach with 22 other probables apart from Ganguly, Dravid and Kumble who are serving their respective counties in England attended the camp.

The players along with the coach have started taking the camp with all seriousness and underwent a rigorous training on the first day. At the end of a grinding five hour session, coach Kapil Dev said "The boys are putting their heart and soul and their morale is high" and added "my job is to look after the boys in the best possible way with the main aim of bringing up the fitness of the probables''.

On the conditions and facilities at the camp, the "Haryana Hurricane" replied in the affirmative. "The facilities made available at the Poona Club were excellent and the climate too was suitable. Being a conditioning camp more stress would be laid on the physical fitness aspect with one hour being devoted towards it in the five-hour session to be held in the morning only", he said.

Talking on the schedule, Kapil felt it would have better if the camp had started a month ago being an offseason. He said "the camp begins early morning at 7 a.m. with training, stretching and other exercises, followed by breakfast at 8.30 to 9 a.m. and thereafter net practice till 12 noon. "This schedule will remain for the first three days and if need be, there will be second session in the evening". "The more time we get practice during the off-season the better. Ideally at least 25 days before any series would be objective for the fitness level of the players to shape up," he said.

The chairman of the selectors Chandu Borde along with BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele were also present at the camp. Borde expressed his happiness on the outcome of the camp so far. "We came to know about the shifting of the camp venue from Calcutta to Pune just 10 days ago and I think Pune has done a good job so far" he said. Borde added "They will have more emphasis on physical fitness. Afterwards they will concentrate on bowling and batting. They will mostly focus on the players physical status plus their general attitude towards their game."

When asked on Kapil's suggestion not to play in any international tournament for six months, Lele said "the Asia Cup is an international commitment by our Board and we have to play in it once every two years. Not only the Indian team but all the other three teams have to play in the Asia Cup as it is mandatory".

On team selection, Lele said "We (Board) have also decided to invite the coach (Kapil) for all the Indian team selection meetings in future. The other two players, who are playing in England - Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid - would join the team at Delhi if selected,".

The probables: Sourav Ganguly (Bengal, captain), Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai), Mohammed Azharuddin (Hyderabad), Ajay Jadeja (J & K), Jacob Martin (Baroda), Hemang Badani (Tamil Nadu), Vinod Kambli (Mumbai), Mohammed Kaif (Uttar Pradesh), Murali Kartik (Railways), Robin Singh (Tamil Nadu), Ajit Agarkar (Mumbai), Thiru Kumaran (Tamil Nadu), Amit Bhandari (Delhi), Zaheer Khan (Baroda), Nayan Mongia (Baroda), Saba Karim (Bengal), Nikhil Chopra (Delhi), Sadagoppan Ramesh (Tamil Nadu), Sridharan Sriram (Tamil Nadu), Sunil Joshi (Karnataka), Rahul Dravid (Karnataka), Anil Kumble (Karnataka), SS Das (Orissa), Reethinder Singh Sodhi (Punjab) and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (Maharashtra).