Delhi Capitals, Head Talent Scout, Vijay Dahiya said that the side has allowed players to miss the net sessions to take their time in getting back to the rhythm in order to serve the long-term goal of keeping the players physically and mentally fresh during the course of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.
"We have got optional nets sessions and have given the freedom to players to slowly get back into rhythm, and that has resulted in the players doing well in training already. Our planning has been such that these players can stay in rhythm during and towards the end of the season as well - that is the most important thing that they are fresh both mentally and physically throughout the season," Dahiya said in a Delhi Capitals release.
Speaking on the challenging weather conditions in the UAE, the 47-year-old added, "How Ricky Ponting has planned the nets sessions is good, he is focused on preparing the fast bowlers steadily and we have also brought in some net bowlers to make sure there is not much workload on our players going into the season in these tough conditions."
Dahiya said the Delhi Capitals have to continue from the last season, where they finished at third place.
"If you look at last year's start, I think we will want to resume from there. We have a great balance in our squad, even though we didn't know we will be playing in Dubai when we had bought the players, we seem to have a good team suited to these conditions," said the former India wicketkeeper.
Commenting on his team's composition, Dahiya said he believes his team has the right balance. The side has a bunch of experienced and young guys.
"The wickets here will start to become like the ones we have back home, and at Delhi Capitals, we have some amazing, experienced spinners. We also have good fast bowlers - Ishant Sharma performed exceptionally last year. The top order makes the team really exciting with the talent they have, and most importantly they are Indians, so we get that kind of freedom to pick our best 4 overseas players as well," he said.
Asked if living in the bio-bubble and having the season under such circumstances has been a challenge, Dahiya is of the opinion that the players have gotten used to it.
"It has been a challenge and mostly mentally, but when you step onto the field, you forget about everything else. We try to find the positives out of everything - players have been at home for the past few months with these circumstances, so they are now prepared to live under such circumstances. And once the matches get underway, I don't think these things will be playing in their minds," he said.
"We've also got a lot of time to train here and never before has it been possible in the IPL that teams have got so much time to gather and prepare for a season. So we have a lot of positives also out of this situation," added Dahiya.
Delhi Capitals will take on Kings XI Punjab in their opening game in Dubai on September 20.
( With inputs from ANI )
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