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We need to improve fitness: Kohli
Kolkata: India’s Test captain Virat Kohli on Sunday said though his team was good on the skills front, it needed to improve on the fitness aspect.
“The team is in good shape. On the skills front we have been really good for a while and looking for consistency. Fitness is an area that we need to strengthen more and more going ahead so that we have less injuries and we play the same set of players to build a match-winning combination,” he said.
“Fitness is the primary focus of any game. If we strengthen that over a period of six to eight months from now that will help us in the coming three-four years and guys going through tough phase in Test match.
“We feel that fitness is an area that we need to improve and I feel it is the need of the hour. Bringing minor changes in attitude, in fitness level, in improving our skills, is something we plan to do as a whole unit,” the 26-year-old said.
Following recurrent injuries to players, the BCCI got all the players selected for the Bangladesh trip undergo fitness test at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. This is the first time that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decreed that all cricketers need to take the fitness test before embarking on the tour.
Hitherto, only injured players were subjected to fitness test prior to a series.
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.