Picture Credit: BCCI
The Indian team was hit with a massive blow as they lost Ravindra Jadeja because of a knee injury that has been affecting him over this year. But India seems unfettered by this blow thanks to a long build plan created by head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma.
As per a report by the Times of India, The Men in Blue have been preparing for the upcoming T20 World Cup since February and hence one witnessed a large number of rotations to curtail any possible injury concerns like the Jadeja situation.
The TOI report quoted a source from the team who talked about how Dravid and Rohit marked out the entire year as a guide for physios and strength coaches to ensure that players remain for the World Cup. "The captain and coach had sat down with the strength and conditioning coach and the physios in February.
"They had marked the entire year's schedule. Rohit and Dravid had given them a pool of players. The support staff was told to ensure those players are available and in the best shape for the T20 World Cup. Thus, each series was marked for the players to play in," the source was quoted as per this report.
"It has been decided that if the trainers and physios feel a player is about to hit his threshold, he will be rested straightaway. If any player reveals any discomfort, the team management is willing to rest him at that very point. It's better to err on the side of caution," the source added.
The team also created a new system for the new bowlers that ensured they can gradually improve even without featuring in games with a sudden scarcity of India ‘A’ matches. Through this process, a group of bowlers will travel with the team and then later play domestic cricket for implementing the things they learned with the Indian team.
The source said, “A set of net bowlers will travel with the team and go back to domestic cricket to implement whatever they have learnt with the Indian team. They will learn the difference. And they will come back again to get better because they would know the areas they need to work on.”
