"The only request that stumped me was the players' yearning for a good curry, which is very hard to find in Bloemfontein," said Sundru Reddy, a South African cricket fanatic who has been handling the logistics for the team during their stay.
Despite having been in South Africa for 156 years already, Indians only started settling in Free State province, the only one debarred to them by the apartheid government, after the laws were lifted following the release of Nelson Mandela in the early 1990s, so the Indian restaurants found in other South African towns are almost non-existent in Bloemfontein.
"Our conditioning coach, Adrian le Roux, is based in Bloemfontein and we have come to train with him," Srikanth said.
"It's nice to get away from all the hype and attention, and the boys benefit greatly from this experience. Most of our training sessions involve strength and physical conditioning, but we do get in some net practice so often," he added.
He said the team management was happy with the squad they have put together for this year's IPL which starts on April 9.
South African players in the team include Morne Morkel and Johan Botha.
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