"If you see the FTP, all countries are playing cricket 365 days a year whether England or Australia. It is not the Indians only. The fact is that cricket is being played the whole year in whatever format - Test, ODI or Twenty20. So I don't think that it is the fatigue factor for the performance in England."
- Kris Srikkanth, Indian chief of selectors
Dear Mr. Srikkanth, India Playing Way Too Much Cricket
The amount of international cricket that India has played in the last 20 months or so is much more than what all other countries have played in the corresponding period.
Sorry Sir, but that is as ridiculous as BCCI’s stand on the DRS; unjustified and without the knowledge of the facts.
Since January 1, 2010, the statistics, which are both revealing and damning, have the following for us. Considering a Test match to be five days old, an ODI to be one-day long and a T20I to last for half a day, we arrive at the following figures. England, with its 21 Tests, 36 ODIs and 14 T20Is has been on the field for 148, the closest to India, who (without the IPL and the Champions League), have played on 155.5 days since then. Australia are a distant third, having played for 120 days, followed by Sri Lanka and South Africa, who are not even in the race, with 94 days apiece.
Add the two editions of the IPL, where all the Indian players have played around 14 games in each of the season, and we are looking at around 170 days of cricket since January 1.
So, it isn't too surprising that a jaded set of players has been found wanting to even challenge the original challengers to the number one throne, England.
There have also been arguments against the critics being unusually quiet when the Indians were on their winning ways in the last couple of years on their ascent to the number one spot in the Test world. Much like a cancer, the disease is not always caught in the beginning, but only when the symptoms begin to show up. While IPL may not have assumed the role of the dreaded disease yet, it has definitely affected the health of the Indian cricketers.
It is a surprise that one of the biggest issues that has been overlooked is that not only have the cricketers to feature in the one and a half month long tournament, the IPL, but also the fact that it is played in the months of April and May. The BCCI cannot hold it in any other months because of the lack of time in the otherwise, filled to the brim, cricketing calendar and that results in the cricketers having to endure climates of around 35 to 40 degrees Celcius (95-105 degrees Fahrenheit) at some of the venues. Juxtapose that to the humidity of 70-80% as well and you have in place, some of the worst conditions to play outdoor sport.
It is interesting that the chief of selectors, Kris Srikkanth, who as a rule than exception, never speaks to the media about his selection decisions, has spoken about the batting failures:
“It is a fact that our top five batsmen have not clicked in the series so far. But the same bunch of cricketers has been doing well during the last couple of years. The same combination had defeated South Africa in South Africa. It our bad luck that in this particular tour nothing has clicked for us.”
Interestingly, in other unrelated news, the selectors end their term in the office this month and a decision on whether their tenure can be extended by a year, needs to be taken in another week’s time.
Pretty much unrelated according to the BCCI, I would hazard a guess.
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