NEW DELHI: With the possibility of resting players through the IPL ruled out, the team-management has told the players to take extra care during the course of the tournament with a set programme to be followed. It is understood that during the series against Australia, players were briefed about do’s and dont’s. Their workloads will also be closely monitored by team physio Patrick Farhart on a day-to-day basis.
Most of the Indian players who were involved in the Australia series will go on a break only for a few days before joining their respective franchises over the weekend. On Wednesday, captain Virat Kohli revealed that he has asked his players to “enjoy the two months of IPL and play for the joy of playing” rather than being too cautious about the workload.
While Kohli also said that players have been told to consult Farhart as and when necessary, it is reliably learnt that they will mostly stick to the training routines adopted by the Indian team where ever it is applicable.
Usually, players follow the programme set by their respective franchises but that may not be the case this time. Farhart will get a day-to-day report of where each player stands in terms of fitness and workload.
Though it is not possible for the players to completely follow their training programme designed by India’s strength and conditioning coach Shankar Basu, they have been advised to be smart with their training routines. As per this, players have been told to pick and choose their practice sessions depending on their fatigue that usually comes with excessive travelling.
Also, their day-to-day programmes like net session and gym session will be monitored and if need be, Farhart will coordinate with respective physios of the eight franchises in case a player needs to be taken care of.
“Over the course of the Australia series, all the players have been spoken to about what they have to do during the next two months. They have had nearly 250 days of national duty and compared to other teams, their fitness has not been an issue considering the amount of matches they play. Last year, the Indian team had only 7 per cent injury-related cases.
So, game time hasn’t been an issue. They just need to careful with what they do on non-match days. If need be, they can skip a net or gym session and still stick to the franchises programme,” sources in the know told this newspaper.