By BV Swagath
Team India has been winning on a consistent basis in recent times, inspite of the absence of several star players. The team has found some new match winners of late. A couple of names that have missed out in Team India in the last year or two are Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.
Both Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan have faded out since the ICC World Cup 2011. Yuvraj as we know survived cancer and made an inspired comeback in the sport but somehow he could not perform like the Yuvraj we know. Subsequently, the southpaw has not only lost a spot in the Test team but also surprisingly is out of the One Day Team.
Zaheer on the other hand has been ageing and with that has lost the bite in his bowling. The 35-year-old believes that he can still play a role in Indian cricket especially with the tour of South Africa coming up.
Both Yuvraj and Zaheer had a quite IPL season as well and their international comebacks look bleak more so with their replacements performing so well. The duo of Yuvraj and Zaheer has recently gone to France to undergo a six-week intense training camp. Both have returned from France after completing their program last Friday. It is interesting to note that the pair’s program in France was not sponsored by the BCCI but was on their own expenses.
Media reports reveal that Yuvraj and Zaheer had virtually cut off from the world by living the life of a Shaolin monk in a French town called as Brive La Gaillarde. Yuvraj and Zaheer became the first cricketers to be trained by Tim Exeter who specializes in High Performance Physical Training. Exeter, a former Rugby player in Scotland has worked with several international athlethes since the 90s at his institute called as Metasport Systems. The 48-year-old Exeter’s objective in his own words is to help athletes of any sports to reach their full athletic potential.
Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan could well have returned to India as fitter and stronger athletes, all set to make a new beginning in their cricketing careers.
