Team India take fitness drills to next level

New Delhi : The Indian cricket team's training drills have undergone marked change in recent years and now there is a new fun drill introduced in order to enhance "running speed" of the players along with a sense of being able to withstand pressure.

During the first training session of the team ahead of three match T20 series against the West Indies in Hyderabad on Wednesday, the Indian players were seen doing the usual short sprint stuff simultaneously in two batches standing one behind the other.

At times, the queue in front had a handkerchief placed on the back of their shorts and those in the second line would try to chase down and pluck it out. It is learnt that the Indian team's new strength and conditioning (trainer) coach Nick Webb has introduced this drill where the players not only develop speed but can also deal with pressure that there is someone hot on his heels chasing.

"Players either chase someone or be chased which increases sprinting intent," a senior IPL team trainer, who has trained many Internationals in the past, explained it to PTI on condition of anonymity.

"If I can understand after watching the video posted on the BCCI website, the purpose of the drill is to enhance running speed development and enhancing the training environment through competition," the trainer explained.

The short video posted had players changing their starting positions from conventional 'on your mark', 'get set', 'go' to doing stretching exercises and suddenly getting up and sprinting. Then during one such set, players had one hand 'virtually tied' to the back while sprinting.

"Changing different starting positions adds more chaos and challenges movement patterns," the trainer explained. Since the time of Shankar Basu, the Indian team's training methods changed drastically and there are times fun elements were introduced in order to make mundane sessions interesting.