Top-class facilities
Lillee gives another reason behind the MRF products returning to their first school despite graduating to the bigger league. “The facilities here are top-class. They have a home to stay where all their needs are taken care of. Besides, I am not a coach with a frown on my face. Who wouldn’t like to be in such an atmosphere,” he asks.
The atmosphere that Lillee speaks about is quite evident in the dinning room as the trainees, after a luxury ride in the coach from the net session, zero in on the aromatic hot cases placed on table. The dietician has ordered pasta today, besides a spread that caters to the taste buds of players with varied eating habits. Though the NCA has improved over the years, Harbhajan Singh’s famous outburst over the quality of food there, the one that got him suspended, comes to the mind.
As the plates get empty, one catches up with Salim Veragi, Baroda’s next big pace find who hails from a village not far from Munaf Patel’s Ikhar. “I have improved immensely after the stint here. Like Munaf, the association sent me here and I know why now. There’s nothing to complain,” he says. He quickly adds that trainer Ramji’s 5 km jog, 400 meter sprint and the never ending drills are punishing.
Lunch hour is over and the warden Ganesh shouts out that it’s time to leave. Not being among stars might see Ganesh stop throwing names for a while. But, maybe, in the future he’ll speak about a present-day occupant of R-45 who just couldn’t resist a plateful of pasta.