Has The Break Helped India Come Back Revitalised Ahead Of The World Cup?
India has been on the road for almost 3-months. Will the break get the men in blue back on their feet?
A lot has been written and spoken about Indian team's long Australia tour and how that may impact their World Cup campaign. After all it's been 77 days since the Indian team left for Australian shores.
To counter fatigue and exhaustion, the Indian team management allowed the men in blue to take a short break before the World Cup begins. Was this a good idea? Skipper MS Dhoni does seem to think so.
"This break would have definitely helped them recharge their batteries. Whether the batteries have been recharged only time will tell?" said the Indian captain. (India Have A Good Chance Of Retaining World Cup Trophy: Gary Kirsten)
Dhoni himself is believed to have gone trekking during the break between the tri-series and the World Cup warm-up matches.
Meanwhile, here's what some other members of the Indian squad did during the 7 day break :-
Suresh Raina: "I did a lot of shopping for my family. We also had some team meetings and team bonding exercises. Some of us youngsters played outdoor games like paintball. Lots of outdoor activities so that we can learn to enjoy each others company." (Factbox on India's Cricket World Cup squad)
Shikhar Dhawan: "I spent most of time cleaning my young son's poo. I went to Melbourne to spend time with my family(Shikhar's wife Ayesha Mukherjee hails from Melbourne)and did a bit of training too to keep myself fit."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: "5 of us went to a place 2 hours outside Adelaide. We went trekking. I loved the natural surroundings there. The best thing though was that none of our phones were working there so you could completely cut off from the rest of the world. They were the best 3 days on tour for me." (ICC World Cup: South Asian Diaspora Ready for Mega India vs Pakistan Battle)
Rohit Sharma: "I chose to stay in the city. I didn't travel as I didn't want to tire myself out. I spent time shopping and eating out. Also, watched a lot of soccer on TV."
Interestingly, a few days after the Indian team had been knocked out of the tri-series former India captain Sourav Ganguly too had stressed on the need to give the Indian team a break, during which they could spend time with their families and friends and come back rejuvenated for the World Cup.