It has been a good season for Mohammad Siraj and Basil Thampi. After proving their mettle in the domestic tournaments and the Indian Premier League (IPL), the two will now be heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to attend a fast bowling camp.
Come June 19, seven fast bowlers from the country — Siraj, Thampi, Navdeep Singh, Nathu Singh, Aniket Chaudhary, Siddharth Kaul and Ankit Rajpoot — will be attending a two-week training camp organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)’s senior selection committee.
To ensure that the fast bowlers are given proper training ahead of a strenuous season, the camp, which concludes on July 1, will see the seven medium pacers honing their skills and working on their fitness levels.
While it is likely that some of the members of the selection committee may visit the camp, the players will mostly be training under the NCA support staff and strength & conditioning specialist, Anand Date. While BCCI officials admit that the camp is being held to provide more training to the young, bright talents, NCA’s spin bowling coach Narendra Hirwani believes that such camps will help the bowlers be fit ahead of a busy season. “They will be given proper training, and that will benefit them,” he tells Sportstar .
In 2013-14, the BCCI had shortlisted 10 spinners and 10 fast bowlers for a camp at the NCA. But with the cricketing body caught in controversies, those camps had stopped rather quietly. With the inclusion of young fast bowlers, the camp will certainly help the selectors create a talent pool.
To ensure that the programme doesn’t clash with any other local tournaments, the State associations have been asked to release the seven players for the camp. “They will not be able to participate in any other local tournaments during the two-week camp. We have already informed the players about it,” confirms a Rajasthan Cricket Association official.
Even the players are looking forward to the camp. “It is a great opportunity to prove yourself in front of the national selectors. Hope we can make the most of the opportunity,” says Aniket Choudhary, who is presently training at the MRF Pace Foundation here.
Another youngster Siddharth Kaul too is looking forward to a good outing. “It is a great thing to get picked for such camps. That boosts the confidence,” says Kaul, who had a good outing at the domestic level and also in the IPL.
With just a few days left for the camp to begin, the chosen seven are aiming to make their presence felt!
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