India dance to Kumble's beat

Late on Sunday evening, India's squad of 17 for the tour of the West Indies was asked to assemble at the team room in their Bangalore hotel for what was to be a "team-bonding activity". If the players expected a serious game involving pen and paper, they were in for a surprise when Anil Kumble, the head coach, announced the drum circle, an activity aimed at "discovering creativity" and "energising participants."

The agenda, it was later explained, was to get the whole group in sync with the beats, much like they would have to in the West Indies. It started with a pep talk from MS Dhoni, who urged the players to "enjoy cricket and not be consumed by the pressures associated with being an Indian cricketer". Over the next hour or so, they jammed to the beats of a popular musician.

"We were surprised by Anil bhai," Kohli said. "We thought it would be a serious session, but it turned out to be a fun session. This is very important for the team. Sometimes, when we are focused on our individual game, we forget the importance of team bonding. We wanted to improve our camaraderie and understanding. This is important because the performance on the field can be better if everyone understands each other better. Everyone enjoyed it a lot and we had fun. It is going to be a long season, and these sorts of activities are required."

Shikhar Dhawan had been one of the first to congratulate "Sir" Kumble on Twitter when he was appointed head coach, and he somewhat summed up the mood in the camp when he said, "Kumble sir is too old now, easy to face", before walking off with a grin.

Going by what has happened over the last week, this much was certain: Kumble's shoulders must be sore, if not creaking, given the number of hours he has spent bowling in the nets.

One of the first to arrive at the ground, Kumble planned the net sessions meticulously, with the bowlers gearing up to bat first, before role reversals. It was no different on Monday, the final day of the team's week-long camp in Bangalore.

Kumble rolled his arm over again, his enthusiasm to beat the bat a constant, and the joy on his face when he eventually did suggest not too much had changed since his playing days, except maybe his waistline. After each ball, he would walk back to where an umpire might stand, and monitor the fast bowlers' landing. So while Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar earned appreciation each time they beat the bat, they were also politely informed that they were pushing the crease in their quest for pace.

Bhuvneshwar said he was happy to have a bowler as head coach. "When you have a coach who is a batsman, he talks more to the batsmen. He talks to the bowlers as well, but those practical things don't come. I am not saying he can't give feedback, but with a coach like Kumble, who is a bowler and has played for India for so many years, you can get more practical things from him rather than from a batsman. That is something I am really looking forward to, and it's one thing I will take from him being a coach."

Each of the batsmen spent considerable time at the three nets - one for the spinners, one for the quicks, and another for throwdowns, with batting coach Sanjay Bangar hurling the ball down with his sidearm for more than two hours.

There was one nervy moment at the pacers' net, when R Ashwin walked off clutching his elbow after being hit by a lifter from Shami. He eventually returned, and didn't bat any further. Kumble later said Ashwin had suffered nothing more than a "bruise."

The intensity picked up when the frontline batsmen geared up for their stints. Dhawan, batting with a slightly open stance after a chat with the video analyst, nicked a few before waltzing down the track to the spinners. Kohli, walking out with three bats, seemed unhappy with his footwork while sweeping the spinners, and asked them to pitch the ball in the same area till he was satisfied. Then he hopped over to the pace bowlers' net and was welcomed with a peach from Varun Aaron that squared him up and took the edge. At the throwdown net, he spent close to 20 minutes simply leaving the ball.

By the time his first camp as head coach had drawn to a close, Kumble had engaged his team in a drum circle, in sessions of yoga and meditation, and a buddy programme to help them open up to each other.

"I certainly believe that as a coach of a young team, you need to be hands on and you need to really get your hands dirty as well - train with them, be a part of their training," he had said last week. "And be with them more like an elder brother, in every aspect, not just on the field, but also off it."

The players seemed to have listened, judging by how quickly they went from "Sir Anil" to "Anil bhai".