Indian team's fitness specialist, Paddy Upton was often referred as the 'thirteenth' man in the South African side when he filled that role during the Hansie Cronjé era.
And while you think about this claim made by one no less than that ace swing bowler of the 1990s, Fanie de Villiers, with firm agreement from the late Bob Woolmer, responsible for his appointment with Cronjé's side, you also know how the aches and pains as well as some ego bruising among team members will get close attention.
One of the lesser-known facts about the 40 year-old is that Upton also has scored a century on a first-class debut for Western Province B, which does explain why he knows a lot more about the game than do most in his position. It is why also, India have with coach Gary Kirsten, a former Test and limited overs batsman star, two of the best men available in their specific roles.
As the current international scene shifts from the Indian Premier League safari of South Africa, with their bouncier surfaces to the more lateral moving pitches on England, Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows as well how defending the ICC World T20 title will require a lot of effort from not only key members of the team but also from the supporting staff.
What needs to be remembered, is how this shortened format calls for new styles of play. And because of its intensity, players need to develop streetwise thinking and accordingly, adapt batting and bowling improvisations to give the side the edge in such a short space of time. These are just two of the more important factors, Dhoni and his crew can develop and create a match-winning formula designed to place pressures on other teams. As was seen in the IPL final, there is a lot to learn about the value of players thinking on their feet.
Although the two short formats make it a game are primarily for batsmen, and where your classic style player can thrive, even in such frenetic conditions, it is the quality that counts and where fitness plays such an important role. What needs to be remembered is how at first-class and Test as well as the 50/50 game levels, where the cricket played can be paced to suit any particular player.
Yet the one constant factor linking the three formats is a player's hand-eye co-ordination as well as hand skill levels and performance consistency: it is an indelible nexus and why the left-hand and right hand players contribute such a marked role in developing and improving areas of the game.
Woolmer once commented how this type of approach is largely about the psychology of 'maximising marginal on-field performances'. It is where India are well equipped to make their tactics work in an event where the adrenalin levels, although high, are more stable when you have players who know their roles in a team's overall gameplan.
Team India's current injury problem will be of some concern and is one where Upton can help the cause of overcoming the mental fatigue so many talk about, yet fail to understand how it is largely a psychological and biorhythmic problem. As with any sport, a continued poor run of form can add to a player's mental fatigue.
It is about looking for the positives by overcoming the negatives and creation of improved results through self-motivation. The 20/20 game adds to such stresses among players that it requires to be managed to overcome a preparation focus hiccup.
Any casual glance at the young team list explains where India have their strengths on which to build a squad that will retain the title won in South Africa in 2007; not forgetting the differences in conditions. In South Africa in 2007, the games were played in September with grassy type surfaces in some areas but not in others such as Centurion or The Wanderers for reasons of climatic conditions.
In England, being June, there will be similar conditions to those in South Africa eighteen months ago; as the ball swung at some venues but not at others, suggestions are how spin will also play a more significant part in game strategies this second edition.
Yet with injuries and form guiding the selectors, the make up of the Indian side for this ICC World T20 event, is similar to that which won the tournament by beating Pakistan. The argument that can also be used is that the practice matches do not explain a lot as they are all about what Greg Chappell referred in 2005 to as flexibility and shuffling the batsmen around to make them most effective in the shorter format.
It is where Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja slot into an Indian gameplan that doesn't rely just on one or two batsmen but three to effect damage control. It is where the top order becomes so important in a compact innings of twenty overs where there is a shorter restriction on bowlers.
It should be remembered how in the theory of cricket, the game is becoming more dynamic each year and requires a need to remain competitive at international level. It is here where selectors and coaches have to keep changing for the good of the side. At 20/20 level players need to address the team's needs and a captain aware of his options.
When you consider how the two oldest players in the side are only thirty – Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan – and Yuvraj has been around at this level for eight years yet only twenty-seven, it shows the experience that Dhoni can call on and give others support in the field. You cannot replace that sort of experience and knowledge that easily. Even their off-field advice to younger players is of value and when they are back in the side, they will make major difference.
It is though how India members approach the game and support their captain where the difference between winning and losing becomes so important in applying on-field tactics to meet the challenges. So often with the fall of two wickets in an over, or batting out a maiden, adds pressure.
Just as you need batsmen to play the high-risk game to maintain a run rate at a frenetic pace, there is a requirement as well for bowlers to get the line right and deliver dot balls and cut down on wasteful wides and no-balls. Along with poor fielding and dropped catches, this where, all too often, the balance of any gameplan is disturbed at a crucial stage.
It is here where India have players with the sort of onus to support their captain and take on the responsibility to change the shape of a game – even in the last over of the game. A typical example is Rudra Patrap (RP) Singh in the IPL final. Smart thinking and getting the ball in the right areas helped, and often explains the margins between being a winner and a loser.
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