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What’s The Story?
The Kerala Blasters players are grinding it out during the pre-season, with just two days to go, for ISL 2017 to get underway. A picture of the Kerala players' daily schedule was posted on social micro-blogging site Twitter, that revealed the daily regime of the players.
According to the drawing board that charts out the daily routine of the players, the Kerala boys have their breakfast at 10 o’clock in the morning, followed by a gym session divided into three groups.
After three rigorous sessions of training, the players finally have their lunch at 1pm, followed by refreshments at 3.30pm, before they hit the training ground at six o'clock in the evening.
The Context:
Kerala Blasters are considered the old foes of ATK, as the Kolkata-based side has defeated them in the ISL final twice, in 2014 and 2016. The co-owners of these two teams are old friends from Indian cricket team, both of whom were former Indian cricket team captains -- Sachin Tendulkar (Kerala Blasters) and Sourav Ganguly (ATK).
The heart of the Matter:
The Kerala boys are keeping themselves fit to give a tight fight to the defending champions. On the other hand, ATK have been hit badly with injuries since their star striker Robbie Keane is out for three to five weeks, along with Ashutosh Mehta and Jayesh Rane, who are also injured.
What’s Next?
Kerala will get a huge support from their home crowd, and that is going to be an obstacle which ATK has to overcome. Fans were left frustrated with the lack of availability of tickets following confirmation that the capacity of the stadium in Kochi would be reduced to 41,000. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Kochi, following renovations ahead of the recently concluded FIFA U17 World Cup, was installed with bucket seats, increasing its capacity. Without a doubt, the season is going to kick start with a bang.
Author’s Take
The ISL is a pathway for the budding talents. As the Kerala team seems to have a great schedule during their pre-season, the young Indians who are the in the squad could learn a lot from the fitness and the training regimes, which are set by coaches who have worked with top professional coaches from Europe.
