The top players from India may be occupied with the IPL, but head coach Rahul Dravid and his staff will gather on Tuesday at the National Cricket Academy to begin getting ready for the World Test Championship final in June. For the second time in a row, India and Australia will square off at the Oval from June 7–11 in a World Test Championship final.
With injuries to key first team players like pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and the main overseas match-winner Rishabh Pant, there are a lot of issues that needs to be addressed ahead of the big final. The workload management aspect also needs to be looked at keeping the ODI World Cup in mind. “Dravid along with batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip and the other support staff will be meeting the NCA team headed by VVS Laxman to discuss various issues related to senior team,” a BCCI source, privy to development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Laxman, as the head of NCA, is not only overseeing the rehabilitation module of centrally contracted injured players under the aegis of Sports Science and Medicine team but at the same time is responsible for tracking the progress of ‘Targeted’ players (India, India A) as well as the Emerging Players (aged between 19 and 23).
It is expected that both Dravid and Laxman along with their respective teams would extensively discuss workload management and the plans with regards to preparation for the final. It is there to be seen whether Head of Sports Science Nitin Patel encounters any tough questions about regular breakdown of players, who are coming back after extensive rehabilitation. Case in point will be Iyer (red ball) and Deepak Chahar (white ball).
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