Is the Indian team fit to fight?

How fit is the Indian team? That is question that has been debated time and again after every Indian defeat. The loss isn’t directly blamed on fitness but it always lurks around as something that takes part of the blame. It isn’t any different this time round – with injuries in almost every Test robbing India of players who could have made the crucial difference in the series against England. But coming back the question of how fit we are, takes me back to Bloemfontein, South Africa in the year 2001. Virender Sehwag had just played his debut Test for India and that’s when the then coach John Wright decided to ask a trainer – Adrian Le Roux – to have a fielding session with the team. Most of the players in the team thought it would be a normal training session – some catching and a little more. But no one was prepared for what Le Roux threw at them. It was fielding practice with a lot of sprinting and different drills designed to push you to the brink. This was our first brush with proper training and at the end of the 40 minutes; I can safely say that we were all knackered. We had never experienced something like this before. [caption id=“attachment_67652” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India’s Sharma runs his fingers through his hair during a training session. Reuters”] [/caption] The current team’s fitness levels are much better but there is no doubt that in many ways the conclusion of the series would have come as a big relief to the team. The most disappointing aspect was that the Indian team never seemed to compete with the English team in any of the Tests. And the downfall, as the Tests progressed was only more pronounced – the improvement that you generally get from an experienced squad never surfaced. There have been a few reasons being talked about from the preparation to the form to the fitness of the squad. And while there is no denying that the preparation and form were a massive difference between the two teams, there isn’t a doubt that injuries and fitness concerns cost India dearly in the series. The term fitness means a lot of things when associated with modern day sport be routines in the gym or cricket fitness. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the fittest guy will never pick an injury as this is a physical sport and injuries are a part and parcel of it. But there is a difference – the fitter guy can perform at his peak for a lot longer than someone whose idea of fitness is a jog around the park. If we leave the injuries aside, the major difference was noticeable in the way the English and Indian bowlers bowled their last spells of the day. Anderson was actually quicker in his final spell of the day. India’s bowlers, on the other hand, were just looking to get off the field. And often, the second spell can make a big difference. That’s when the batsmen are looking to attack but if they don’t get an opening, they can’t do anything. It isn’t only about bowling though. Even when you bat or field, the fitter you are, the more you can concentrate for the team for a longer duration of time. And this is where England score more heavily over India because the English guys seemed to be a lot fresher than their counterparts. And there is no other reason other than superior fitness. This gets accentuated more when you are in the field for longer hours than when things go your way. And then, you have less time to recover and be fresher when you are back. This is a lot more important in the longer version of the game, as you still might be able to get through a 50-over game cause you either bowl ten overs as a bowler or bat a maximum of 50 overs as a batter on any given day. And then you take into account the main grouse of the Indian cricketers – we play too much cricket. Well, here’s the bottom line – it is the individual’s responsibility to a large extent to be fit enough as per the requirements of the modern day game. And this is where I feel the people concerned should have consistent parameters for everyone who represents the country whether you win or lose. Yes, there may be instances where you make exceptions for a certain player in certain situations, but those should be very rare and it is imperative that he lasts the entire game or else you are better off picking a lesser player who is fitter and will give you more through the game. The series, not just cricket but fitness-wise also, has been a great lesson learnt from the English team of where you need to be at if you want to be the best in the world. The English bowlers showed us the high standards of fitness by bowling close to 200 overs on a trot in the last Test of the series to win it. And those are the levels we need if we want to compete with the best ‘Away’ from India. For all this to happen there should be a plan of how to manage players in spite of the demanding schedules of modern day cricket. And if we don’t get that plan now, we just might slide down even further than the world number three position we presently occupy.