Conditioning camp to be held in SA

Faisal Shariff

The Indian team management’s request to have a coaching camp in South Africa ahead of the tour of the country seems to have been accepted.

Board of Control for Cricket in India honorary secretary Jaywant Lele, when contacted over telephone in Colombo, where he is currently accompanying chairman of selectors Chandu Borde for the third and deciding Test between India and Sri Lanka, confirmed that the team will be going early to South Africa so that it can have its conditioning camp as also get acclimatised to the conditions there.

The team management had requested the board to have the conditioning camp for the team in South Africa instead of India so that the players can get acclimatised to the bouncy, fast tracts there.

"The team for the one-day triangular (involving hosts South Africa and Kenya) will be most probably selected on September 7 and then the team will fly out to South Africa in the third week of the month," Lele said.

Which means the team will have at least ten days to get acclimatised. Certainly, a brilliant move.

The last time India toured South Africa, in 1996, they played a single three-day game on a docile wicket of St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, and then in three days' time played the first Test on the fastest wicket in the African continent, at the Kingsmead ground in Durban, and caved in within three days for 66, their lowest total against South Africa in Tests.

However, it appears the conditioning camp in South Africa will only include the one-day players and not those considered only for the Tests, like openers Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sundar Das.

"As of now only the one-day players will be flying down to South Africa for the camp. The board will decide whether the Test specialists need to be flown in as well early next month," Lele informed.

Supporting the move to hold the camp in South Africa instead of India, Lele argued that it makes more sense to hold the camp in South Africa because of the difference in conditions in the two countries.

Indeed, the progressive stance taken by the board seems to be helping the cause of the players, who had earlier been overlooked for commercial gains. After the hiring of a foreign coach and the acceptance of the contract system, the go-ahead for the camp in South Africa seems to be a step in the right direction for Indian cricket.