Chennaiyin FC midfielder Anirudh Thapa shares how fitness and adaptation to humidity will be biggest challenge for the new players ahead of ISL

Two times Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC launched their new fan designed kiti in the presence of co-owner Vita Dani and Abhishek Bachchan at the event in Chennai. The event also had a bunch of Chennaiyin FC players and their new head coach Thomas Brdaric who will look to right all the wrongs for the Marina Machans in the upcoming season.Apart from that there were a couple of foreigners including Rafael Crivellaroi and Indian midfield maestro Anirudh Thapa.

The midfield lynchpin spoke to the media regarding last season and how things have changed under Brdaric in pre-season. He also shared the expectations from Durand and the upcoming ISL season. The Indian international praised the new coach of Chennaiyin and shared how he likes to run a lot as he felt that the previous coach’s tactics to be too stationary.

Speaking about the new coach Thapa shared, ““He is hardworking. He likes us to run. That’s what we were lacking in the last season. So that’s a positive sign as well because of fitness.” He also blamed the climate for playing spoilsport.  “It is difficult for us to adjust to this climate. It’s humid, it’s hot and he’s working to make us all stay fit,” Thapa continued.

The Marina Machans are all set to play in the Durand Cup ahead of the big season. They have set camp at the Ramachandra College and Thapa revealed how conditioning is the most important thing that they are working on especially for the new players who are not used to the high humidity  levels. “Right now, we’ve just started and it’s more on our fitness because the climate is not that the players are used to it. As I said, it’s humid & hot. We’re playing in the early afternoon. So it’s difficult. The players are adjusting. So right now, the focus is on fitness.”

When asked about the expectations from Durand Cup and whether the performance here affects the performance in the ISL or not. Thapa was honest enough to give a straightforward answer as he shared how ISL is the most important tournament/league that they will play so that is of prime importance. But without undermining the Durand Cup, he shared how they will be using this platform to get their cohesion and understanding up as an unit.

“Durand Cup is different. ISL is different. We know the value of ISL. We know what we’ll be playing, what all teams we’ll be playing and that’s Durand Cup for us. Obviously, it is important. It’s not that we’re just playing for fun. It’s important but it is more of how we need to get to know each other. What all we need to do to perform in ISL. That’s more important,” revealed the 24-year-old midfielder.

Chennaiyin FC could very well be the surprise package for this season in the ISLand beyond. They have a very shrewd head coach and a bunch of excellent foreign players. Their mix of youth and experience also will hopefully bear fruit. The 2-times champion need to wake up after a couple of underwhelming seasons.