Southampton: Savour this. India have already been in England for 13 days. And their first match of the World Cup isn’t for another two days! It’s a bizarre, almost unthinkable proposition; it’s as if Virat Kohli’s men are watching the tournament unfold from the outer, as if their preparations are geared towards some other event and not the one currently underway in England and Wales.

But if the Indian team is seized by tingling nerves that come with nervous anticipation, or has been grabbed by a sense of restlessness stemming from the feeling of the world leaving them by, that is anything but conspicuous. They knew the itinerary long before they arrived in the English capital, on May 22. They were aware that their first game, against South Africa at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, wouldn’t be until June 5, the seventh day of the tournament. They had understood that by the time of their opening match, five of the other teams – hosts England, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan – would all have got two games out of the way.

It isn’t, however, as if India have been twiddling their thumbs since landing in England. They played two official warm-up fixtures, the second of them against Bangladesh in Cardiff on May 28. Since moving base to Southampton the following day, they seem to have struck a judicious balance between practice sessions and relaxing routines. They have only trained on alternate days, throwing in a team-bonding paintball outing once, summoning strategic planning meetings on other occasion. There has been plenty of cricket, but cricket alone isn’t controlling their consciousness. That’s an excellent frame of mind to be in heading into a competition of this magnitude and with such stakes, though what it translates into as the event unspools remains to be seen.

India will insist that it is to their advantage that they have seven days in this southern part of the country before their opener, because it gives them time to get used to the city, to the weather that can change several times in the same day, and to the underfoot conditions at a venue where they will also tackle Afghanistan on June 22. You can’t argue with the logic in any of those instances.

The biggest plus from their protracted wait to get their campaign underway is the time some of the players with the odd injury have got to make a complete recovery. Kedar Jadhav, for instance, flew out with the team with giant question marks over the state of his left shoulder. The Maharashtra batsman, an underrated but hardly undervalued member of the side, hurt himself during Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2019 showdown against Kings XI Punjab on May 5.

While scans and tests ruled out a fracture or an injury of a serious nature, Jadhav would almost certainly have been ruled out of contention had India’s campaign already started. This additional buffer might now bring him back into the mix, come next Wednesday. Jadhav has been batting in the nets and taking full part in the punishing fielding drills. When India reassemble for training on Monday after a day of no cricket on Sunday, it will become apparent if he is bowling-ready as well.

Hardik Pandya, with a recent history of back issues, is also utilising this rare breather to work on his core. A ferocious ball-striker and a most handy customer with the ball where there is assistance either from the atmosphere or the surface, Pandya is nearly as vital to India’s prospects as Kohli or Jasprit Bumrah. Not only does he lend balance, he also brings oodles of flair and the unquestioned ability to turn a match on its head in the bat of an eyelid. For him to enjoy the luxury of working his way towards peak fitness in the middle of a tournament is a massive bonus that he and the think-tank has to be grateful for.

Staying motivated is the key

It is now becoming increasingly apparent that concerns about the heavy workload of the players emanating from the rigours of the IPL weighing them down during the World Cup are unfounded. There has been, as several IPL captains and coaches insisted there would be, plenty of opportunity to rest, recover, recuperate, refresh and recharge. India’s players might benefit from having played in the high-pressure, ultra-demanding T20 tournament as a precursor the World Cup main course, but the IPL can’t be held responsible any more in the event of physical laxity or mental staleness.

In saying all this, however, it is impossible that the players won’t feel at least a little fidgety and anxious. After all, they are here to play the World Cup, and they would like to get the first game out of the way, no matter the benefits of joining the party late. It’s here that the role of the management group becomes critical. To keep the entire outfit sharp, to prevent potential latent nerves from sweeping across the unit as a contagion, and to ensure that the competitive edge is not lost owing to long bouts of ennui will necessitate man-management and motivational skills not just from coach Ravi Shastri, but also from every other member of his jumbo-sized support group.

Shastri, and his assistants Sanjay Bangar, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar, have been together for nearly two years now in their latest stint, and almost five years in all – with the gap of a year when Anil Kumble was the coach between July 2016 and June 2017. They run a tight but not stifling ship; the World Cup will perhaps define their legacy even though they have the cushion of a first ever Test series win on Australian soil to fall back on. Towards that end, they will have left no stone unturned in transforming the potential banana-skin of India’s late start into an out-and-out boon. Whether they succeed in their endeavour is something that only the passage of time will throw complete light on.