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Take a break, boys!

For once, the 22 probables now in Chennai for the coaching camp have it easy.

Nothing on the schedule for Friday, except a light workout in the morning, and a lecture on tactics and such, under the aegis of consultant coach Bobby Simpson, in the evening.

"They've been working very hard," explains coach Anshuman Gaekwad. "I don't think any Indian coaching camp has been as tough as this one. They deserve a break and besides, they need to be able to relax once in a while, otherwise they will get jaded."

Gaekwad is right as far as his assessment of the strenuous nature of the camp goes -- the ongoing one has been a far cry from the usual lackadaisical approach earlier camps have been known for.

A five hour session in the morning encompasses fitness workouts, practise in fielding and running between wickets, and open nets, involving all players.

The players then break, to return to the Taj Coromandel, on Nungambakkam High Road, where they are put up for lunch and a rest.

And back they go to the M A Chidambaram Stadium, for another session lasting two and a half to three hours. And inevitably, this is followed by a review of the day's practise, with the help of extensive video replays.

Another innovation, not seen in previous India coaching camps, came on Thursday when the probables were split into two sides and made to play a 40 overs a side match, under actual conditions.

Right from the outset, it was clear that the players were going flat out -- while coach Gaekwad and consultant Simpson sat making extensive notes.

With Azharuddin resting a slight back strain and Sachin Tendulkar in Adelaide, it was Ganguly who led one team, while Ajay Jadeja led the other.

Chennai-based Kerala Ranji player Rohit Mahendra and Test discard Aashish Kapoor helped make up the playing eleven.

Jadeja's team batted first and made 197 in the allotted 40 overs. Ganguly's side, chasing, coasted along till the 34th over, when Hrishikesh Kanitkar cut loose, slamming Rahul Sanghvi's left arm spin for 19 runs, including two sixes and a four, in that over.

In the end, the chasing side made it with three overs to spare.

V V S Laxman scored 54 for Jadeja's outfit, while Jadeja himself scored a brisk 49 not out. For the other team, Ganguly with 55, Dravid with 52 not out and Kanitkar with a quickfire 54 were the stars.

A similar match is slated for next week, either on the second, or the third, of September.

In between, Ajit Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath took time off to visit the MRF Pace Foundation, where pace guru Dennis Lillee is now in residence.

Lillee in fact made it to the MAC for the practise game, a day after he had coached Ajit Agarkar for an extensive one hour session.

Lillee's read was that Agarkar is a bit too side on for his own good. Such an action involves a lot of torque during the delivery stride, which in turn puts enormous stress on the back muscles.

Lillee and T A Shekhar, the foundation's head coach, worked on getting Agarkar to straighten his run up a shade (it is now slightly diagonal) and also to get a fraction less side on during delivery, in order to guard against injuries that are possible with his present style of bowling.