Calm and cool in hot Perth

Rohit Mahajan in Perth

Perth, scorching in the heat of the last two days, got a respite today. Overnight winds had cooled the town, the morning was overcast, and it became sunny later. Perfect for a Monday morning beach party. Australia partied on an extended super-weekend — today was a public holiday. Western Australia had shut shop for the state’s very own Labour Day today. It’s celebrated on May 1 back home, but they do it on March 2 in this province of Australia.

There were no Monday morning blues among the outdoors-crazy Australians. We checked the beaches later, and they were packed with people frolicking in the water and sand and sun.
In keeping with the spirit of the day, the Indian players too were in a holiday mood. Wearing smart casuals, some of them were spotted at various times in the city, shopping and eating out. The three wins in a row, and especially the one over South Africa in their second game at Melbourne, have calmed their nerves. They don’t feel under pressure to practise all the time. If they’d not been doing well, they might have done that, ie practise every day, due to the pressure and guilt.
They have, as they say in Australia, ‘no worries’ on any count as of today.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain, says that it’s important to take days off. He says that in between the matches — the gap can be up to six days — it makes sense to prepare with efficiency and focus and planning. He says that since the team, or most of its key players, have been in Australia for three months, they don’t need to practise every day. This can be terminally exhausting for the mental as well as physical well-being of the players.
“When you’re constantly playing cricket, what matters more than the net sessions is rest, especially when you’re playing a long series,” Dhoni says. “If you include the Australia series, it’s a four-five month tour on the whole.”
As far as the conditions are concerned, says Dhoni, the team has nothing more to learn. If the team still is trying to learn new things, then the months of acclimatization have been a waste, suggests the skipper.
“We’ve played at almost all the venues so we know how the wickets behave. Being mentally fresh is very important,” he says. “What we’re doing is dividing the workload, trying to practise on alternative days. Three days of high-intensity practice are better than six days of mediocre practice. We’re mixing it.”
Dhoni says that when the world thinks that the players are taking a break between the games, they’re not really doing nothing at all. It’s not like an office job.
“Even an off day is only an off day on the field,” he says. “We do gym or pool sessions or try to play a bit of tennis — all these things to keep ourselves fresh.”