Dhoni’s men focus on core skills on camp’s penultimate day

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar at the training camp for the Indian cricket team in Bangalore. Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

Sand-papering the rough edges continued as M.S. Dhoni’s men focussed on their core skills in an extended morning session at the KSCA (B) Ground after a warm-up at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina had the first strike as coach Gary Kirsten too chipped in throw-downs while the bowlers sweated out. Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar worked on their batting too, with specific focus on their off-side repertoire on a cement pitch.

Later, Ashish Nehra worked up some steam, surprising Karthik and Raina with his awkward bounce. Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh had a hit next.

Meanwhile Kirsten had a discussion with Karthik, and Nehra soon struck Yuvraj on the right shoulder, an ice-pack later, the Punjab southpaw seemed fine.

Abhishek Nayar too had a long bowl along with the India regulars led by Harbhajan while Praveen caused some consternation as well as mirth as he found Rahul Dravid and Dhoni’s pads, to the approval of ‘umpire’ Venkatesh Prasad.

The morning gained some lustre as former Indian captain Anil Kumble dropped in for a while.

The seniors, meanwhile, slipped in to their mentoring roles smoothly. Dravid had a chat with Amit Mishra as the leggie padded up against the bowling machine while Tendulkar watched Yuvraj Singh’s forward-defensive shot and exchanged notes with Kirsten.

And as the camp’s penultimate day wound to a close, it was the 10,000-run club’s special moment as Dravid watched Tendulkar take on the bowling machine.