RC Editor

Under the watchful eyes of Ray Jennings, Club Royal Challengers' preparation camp has been gathering steam.

The RC editorial team is also following the every move of the team. Following is an update how the RC camp is progressing and how the players are gearing up for the grueling IPL event from March 12, or specifically for RC, from March 14. We have a pack full of interviews, informations lined up in the days to come. So stay tuned. Today, it's only a teaser.

Camp: March 4, 2010

Skipper Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid got into the thick of actions on Thursday, March 4 when the team played two T20 practice matches amongst themselves at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The sessions were divided into two halves - morning 10 to 1 and then afternoon 2 to 4. Coach Ray, who was keenly watching the proceedings from the pavilion balcony, stressed on bowling in the morning session while for the afternoon session it was more of giving practice to The Wall. Dravid joined the team in the second half and straight away padded up in the middle to bat.

And boy, isn't he in good nick!

Some crisp cover drives, square drives and lofted shots marked his intentions for the shortest formats of the game - The Wall is ready to whack the ball!

It was also a treat to watch S Sriram batting. The former Indian batsmen and turning out for RC for the first time in IPL this season played some magnificent lofted drives, much to Coach Ray's likings.

Cool Kumble

Skipper Anil Kumble was seen to be in a chirpy mood and was cracking jokes with his junior colleagues. Stay tuned - for Kumble spoke exclusively for the RC Fans. The detailed interview will be featured very soon in these spaces.

Domestic players like Abhimanyu Mithun, R Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey doing duty in the domestic Zonal One Day competition in the Deodhar Trophy, and outstation players like Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Sreevats Goswami are yet to join the camp. The overseas players will be joining the team a few days before the actual action starts on March 12. A few of them might actually join the team directly at Kolkata where RC plays its first match against Knightriders on March 14.

Camp: March 5

It was fielding and stretching time in the afternoon for the players. Dravid and Kumble went out of town for some personal assignments, after taking prior permissions from the Coach and team management. But must say, on this day, Coach Ray showed the players who is the boss there in the field. Innovative catching and fielding practices grilled the players out of their last breath. It was inspiring to see senior members of the team like Sunil Joshi working and competing equally with the junior colleagues like Bhuvneswar Kumar, Bharat Chipli. Coach Ray took special care to work out each of the players, especially Sriram who took some amazing catches and also knocked off the stumps a couple of times with his accurate throws.

Exciting Robin

Robin Uthappa, the exciting opening bat of Club RC has had a few ups and downs during this season but he promises to come up with some great games this IPL season. Robin also gave some special message for the RC Fans which will be posted soon. Robin is nursing a slight injury on his right shoulder. However, there is nothing to worry as the injury is not much serious and he is recovering fast and well. The cool but confident customer came on both the days but only resorted to some very light exercises.

Coach Ray also spoke at length for the RC Fan Club. Stay tuned for more on what they said. Meanwhile, also enjoy some exclusive practice snaps taken by our RC Chief Photographer.