Gregory Allen King had an amused grin in answer to the assembled media at the start of the five-day fast bowlers' conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on Tuesday. He was given the job of briefing the media, a task normally handled by India captain Sourav Ganguly, coach John Wright or one of the senior players. So it was a totally new experience for the South Africa-born physical trainer.

This is the first time that the bowlers have gathered together since the end of the Pakistan tour and King expects their fitness levels to be lower than normal.

"We asked the players to take it easy after all the non-stop cricket that we have been playing. So it will be no surprise to see that their fitness levels will be lower than usual," said King.

Lakshmipathy Balaji, the bowling sensation of the Pakistan tour, also addressed the media.

"During our time off we were asked to bowl as less as possible and mainly do a lot of swimming and training to recoup after a hectic cricket season," he said.

"However, I toured England with my company team (Chemplast Sanmar) and played a couple of matches with Nottingham Club. I also had very good sessions with former England medium pacer Mike Hendrick and worked on getting a pause in my delivery stride, the way Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan have. This way I can see what the batsman is going to do and the make my move," he added.

Balaji said he used the break to get back to the basics. "I worked on my strength and basically will try to maintain my performance of the last two tours."

The purpose of the fitness camp is to assess the bowlers, see where their fitness levels are and how much they need to be improved upon before India plays international cricket again in the Asia Cup next month.

Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ajit Agarkar and Aavishkar Salvi are among 20 bowlers attending the camp.

"The bowlers will be subjected to a lot of cardio and strength training is addition to all the usual exercises. Each bowler has a specific training schedule and once the general exercises are over they will concentrate on specific body parts," informed King.

After the camp, the senior players in the Indian team will have a nine-day conditioning camp from June 13.

So, for the time being, cricket is on the back burner as the boys get match-fit.