Eight cricketers, including skipper M.S. Dhoni, went through a fitness test under the supervision of coach Gary Kirsten at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Monday.
The tests were basically a platform for Kirsten to interact with the players who have had a rare lay-off for more than a month.
Apart from Dhoni, the others who attended the fitness drill were Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, R.P. Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Praveen Kumar, Suresh Raina and Ishant Sharma.
The three-hour tests were for players from North, Central and East Zones. Yuvraj Singh will attend the session in Mumbai on Tuesday with players from West and South. Virender Sehwag, recovering from a shoulder injury, was not present.
The focus was on sprint repeat, a drill that involves assessment of strong strides. The weather was not really amiable for such a fitness drill and the players too were hardly excited. Most of them have been training regularly during the one-month lay-off with concentration on gym work.
As Kirsten noted at the end of the session, the idea was to assess their physical condition.
He said the results of this test would be compared with the results of tests to be taken at the National Cricket Academy during the four-day preparatory camp from August 27 for the three-nation tournament in Sri Lanka to be held from Sept. 8.
This is the beginning of our preparations for the coming season,” said Kirsten, expressing satisfaction with the way the players responded.
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