The BCCI has called up One Day Discards like VVS Laxman, Wasim Jaffer, Robin Uthappa, Murali Kartik, Lakshmipathy Balaji and VRV Singh to attend the conditioning camp at Bangalore. The camp which is mainly for the 15-member squad selected for the upcoming Tri Series against Sri Lanka and this move of asking the fringe players to attend the camp sends out a message that nobody is ruled out for the One Day Series or the Test Series that would be coming up in the next few months.
Left arm fast bowler, Ashish Nehra has been allowed to give this camp a miss as the Selectors thought that it was better off for him to continue playing Club Cricket in England and gain some match fitness. Similarly, Anil Kumble has been allowed to fulfill his commitment to Surrey and the Selectors have given signals that Kumble will return back to play ODI Cricket in the near future and that they have certain plans for his return. This camp serves well for Murali Kartik and Lakshmipathy Balaji, who are coming off from a long lay off from injuries. Murali Kartik returns from a shoulder injury and Balaji has comeback from a back injury.
Two conditioning camps have been planned for the players at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore – the first one being a fitness one and the second one concentrating on the players’ skills in the game. The first of the two camps is to start from July 25th and ends on August 1. Greg Chappell, the team’s coach would be joining the players on August 6 for the second leg of the conditioning camp.