Eight Mumbai Indians players to train in Durban

Eight players of the Mumbai Indians will undergo intense training in Durban ahead of the second season of the IPL. They will be trained by Shaun Pollock, who was recently signed on as the team's mentor-cum-advisor, and the team's fielding coach Jonty Rhodes.

The list of players who leave for Durban on Thursday night are: Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Nayar, Rohan Raje, Rahil Sheikh (all Mumbai), Yogesh Takawale (Maharashtra), Pinal Shah (Baroda) and Jaydev Shah (Saurashtra). They will be accompanied by trainer Ramji Shriram and player co-ordinator Rahul Sanghvi, the former India spinner.

"We are keen that our young players get the exposure of playing in different conditions, and on fast conditions and on fast pitches," franchise owner Nita Ambani said. "We have identified fielding and fitness as key areas."

Mumbai finished fifth in the IPL last season after starting the tournament with four straight losses.