Mix of Rugby and Soccer: Ahead of final, Black Caps relax playing “Donny Ball”

AHMEDABAD: (Mar 7) The days of warm-up exercises have long been a passe in international cricket and teams now play games ranging from soccer to foot volley before getting down to the real part — the skills training.

Ahead of New Zealand’s high-profile T20 World Cup final against hosts and firm favourites India, the Black Caps also had a unique fun activity game ahead of the net session which involved country’s national sport Rugby and also soccer.

It also had a quirky name attached to it — “Donny Ball” — coined after team’s strength and conditioning coach Chris Donaldson, who introduced it to the players. So the game has three sets of team — five player each, who would be confined in a square made up of fielding cones.