India cannot play associates more, says Dhoni

 MS Dhoni has ruled out India playing the associate nations, apart from the ICC events, in order for them to get stronger. The Indian skipper cited the gruelling schedule that is already a cause for concern and asked the Indian team to be spared of more cricket.

There is a good chance that the number of teams in the next World Cup to be held in England in 2019 could be restricted to 10 from the present 14 to make the tournament more compact and competitive and avoid some of the meaningless matches.

The reduced numbers obviously make it difficult for the associates to make the cut for the World Cup and one of the reasons mooted for them to be competitive is by playing the bigger and stronger teams more often.    

“Not against India,” Dhoni said in a firm voice. “I don't see even a few days off to play any more cricket than what we play. If you see the cricket nations, they have a calendar of 12 months in which they play a lot of Test matches and ODIs… I don't know what's the number though.

Our calendar is nine and a half months because two and a half months we play IPL and Champions League and still we match every other Test playing nations when it comes to the number of Test and ODI matches played. I don't see India playing any more games. We can't, unless we play two games in one day, which is just not possible, because you want to keep the quality up,” he noted.

An hour before, UAE skipper Mohammad Tauqir had batted for more matches against Test playing nations for associates.

Dhoni, however, felt India’s plate was full and anymore assignments would lead to more burnouts. “A lot of our players get criticised and a lot is said about our bowlers that they are not fit enough, or they get injured… But if you see, it's the same set of players that play all the formats -- Test cricket, ODI cricket, T20 -- then to go back and play Champions League and IPL….

So looking at the workload, I wouldn't be surprised to say our bowlers are amongst the fittest because of the amount of cricket that they play, and yet coming up for every game and performing, it is difficult. Yes, the associate nations, if they can get a few more games, it will be good for them, but at the end of the day, it's like a circus where you want to play in front of people, you want to compete in the best scenarios. So we'll have to formulate a way, but please, not India. India can't play any more games,” he argued.