Dhoni yet again harps on the cramped schedule

Indian skipper MS Dhoni is not a man for tokenisms. He is not a man for excuses either. He cited exhaustion as the reason when the Indian team got knocked out in the Super Eights of the 2009 and 2010 World T20 tourneys in England and South Africa and even earned reprimands from the high and mighty in the BCCI. This time though, even if the BCCI bigwigs pretend to be deaf, Dhoni's words might just ring a bell as the myopic scheduling is being criticised all round the cricketing globe as it has devalued a potentially cracking series.

Faced with the prospect of losing the No.1 ranking after conceding a 0-2 lead to England in the ongoing Test series, Dhoni has once blamed a cramped schedule and tiredness for his team's poor performances. He, however, hoped that with considerable rest before the next Test of the four-match series, India will stage a turnaround. "Somebody said time is of essence here. We came straight from the Caribbean and didn't have time to play more than one (practice) game. So we are playing seven and not four matches backto-back," Dhoni said after India were mauled inside four days by 319 runs at Trent Bridge on Monday.

"This series is a continuation of the West Indies tour and we haven't really had a gap. You need to prepare differently for an England tour. In this respect the next 10 days are very important," he added.

With Virender Sehwag set to join the squad, and Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan likely to be fit for the third Test at Edgbaston on August 10, Dhoni expressed hope of a comeback. The series has been hard on India and Dhoni admitted that his famed batting line up needs to fire. "It is important to score and put runs on the board. We have been lacking in this respect."

Cricket, and more cricket: MS Dhoni has blamed a 'cramped schedule' as one of the reasons India are doing so badly in England. TOI takes a look at the international cricket the team has played in the last one year and the workload of the top players in the same period. Playing international cricket is sapping, and not just because of on-field demands on the cricketers. Constant travelling, daily practice sessions, team meetings, fitness training, media engagements and fans' expectations also take a heavy toll on the players' body and mind. And don't forget, our stars also performed in the IPL in April-May 2011. Thus, most Indian players were not exactly fresh and bubbly when they reached English shores.

Indian team's calendar during the last 12 months - since August 1, 2010: In Sri Lanka v Sri Lanka & New Zealand in August, 2010: 1 Test & 5 ODIs In India v Australia in October, 2010: 2 Tests & 3 ODIs In India v New Zealand in November & December, 2010: 3 Tests & 5 ODIs In South Africa v South Africa in December, 2010 & January, 2011: 3 Tests, 1 T20I & 5 ODIs In Bangladesh v Bangladesh in February, 2011: 1 ODI In India during World Cup in February, March, April, 2011: 8 ODIs In West Indies v WI in June & July, 2011: 1 T20I, 5 ODIs, 3 Tests In England v England in July & August, 2011: 2 Tests Note: In addition to the above, Indian players also appeared in the IPL from April 8 to May 28, 2011.

On the ball: International match days* Indian players logged in the last 12 months - since August, 2010: Sachin Tendulkar: 60 days, Rahul Dravid: 67 days, VVS Laxman: 63 days, Virender Sehwag: 57 days, Gautam Gambhir: 48 days, Yuvraj Singh: 29 days, Suresh Raina: 82 days, MS Dhoni: 88 days, Harbhajan Singh: 81 days, Zaheer Khan: 48 days, Ishant Sharma: 59 days, *Match days: ODI-1 day; T20 -1 day; each day of a Test: 1 day.

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