IPL parties take a toll, admits Dhoni

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GROS ISLET - After their disappointing exit from World Twenty20, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni refused to blame the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the team’s performance but said the late night IPL parties were taxing for the players.

Dhoni also said their inability to handle short pitched deliveries was a hindrance.

The Indians struggled against the quality pace bowling on bouncy track at Kenisgton Oval in Barbados in the first two Super Eights matches.

“I’ve had no setbacks because of the IPL but at the same time players need to be smart because IPL is not only about cricket.

“You have to travel a lot and you need to respect your body otherwise, IPL can be quite draining. If you are playing late night matches and then go to the parties and travel the next day, it takes a toll on your body.

“If you take care of yourself, 45 days of cricket shouldn’t affect you because we play 200 or more days in a year,” Dhoni said.

India was knocked out by Sri Lanka after they lost their third Super Eights match by wickets. They were comprehensively beaten by Australia and the West Indies in the first two matches where the bastmen failed to deal with short-pitched deliveries.

Dhoni, however, said the players were “fit and fresh” for the tournament.

“As far as the IPL is concerned, that’s an open window when we play for our franchises. So I don’t think that was one of the reasons why we didn’t do well here.”

He said IPL and a major tournament like World Twenty20 should not not be held in such a short span.

Dhoni admitted that “most of us have problem when it comes to playing short-pitched balls.”

“So it is not just the youngsters who had problems. We can’t neglect it any more. But we don’t have bowlers who bowl consistently at 145-150 kmph, and most of wickets in India don’t have that kind of bounce.

“We should also remember we are good players of spin. So we shouldn’t be ashamed that we can’t play short-pitched bowling. We can’t be ducking and leaving the shorter deliveries all the time in Twenty20.”

It was the same problem that saw India’ downfall in the previous World Twenty20 in England.

Dhoni said his side did not play to its potential.

“I think execution of plans from their bowlers was very good, even with set batsmen we couldn’t score freely. Overall, batting is our strength and we should have done better. We didn’t perform to our potential. The last four-five overs they bowled really restricted us.”