Rahul Dravid, support staff to assemble at NCA to prepare India's WTC final framework

The Indian Premier League has grabbed the attention of fans from around the world as the 16^th edition of the cash-rich event is witnessing all the top cricketers participating. But the cricketers, especially those from the Indian and Australian sides, are trying and managing their workload so as to be fit and ready for the World Test Championship which begins soon after IPL’s conclusion.

India and Australia will cross swords in the all-important WTC Final on June 7 at The Oval with an aim to clinch the mace. The Rohit Sharma-led side lost the championship game to New Zealand in the previous edition of the event, but managed to make it to the summit clash for the second consecutive time after winning the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

The Indian management will have to keep several points in mind before finalising the squad as Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah will all be missing due to their respective injuries. And with the ODI World Cup too scheduled to be held later this year, the players will have to be managed very carefully and reports suggest that Indian head coach Rahul Dravid and members of the management have gathered at the NCA in Bengaluru to discuss all the points.

"Dravid along with batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip and the other support staff will be meeting the NCA team headed by VVS Laxman to discuss various issues related to the senior team," a BCCI source, in the know of the matter was quoted as saying by NDTV Sports.

As the chairman of NCA, Laxman is in charge of monitoring the progress of players of both the senior Indian side as well as India A, and also the emerging players, in addition to supervising the rehabilitation program for the injured contracted cricketers.

It is anticipated that workload management and the strategies for final preparation will be thoroughly discussed by both Dravid and Laxman, as well as their separate groups. It will be interesting to see if Head of Sports Science Nitin Patel faces any challenging concerns on the regular disintegration of players who are returning from extensive rehab.