Cramped calendar hampers mental preparation: Dhoni

[ravishingravi]

Couldn't have thought of a better moment to say this with just 6 days before World cup. "India's jam-packed itinerary has not only taken a physical toll on the players but could also affect their mindset heading into the World Cup, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said. Boasting some of the hottest young talent in the game, co-hosts India are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup which begins on Saturday. But Dhoni warned that the team's mental preparation had been hit by the rigours of constantly switching between tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20 matches in the run-up to the World Cup. The mindset was not really there. Mentally we were not ready, that's one of the reasons why we couldn't bat well, Dhoni told reporters after India defeated World Cup holders Australia by 38 runs in a warm-up match in Bangalore on Sunday. Of course for the warm-up game mentally it was very difficulty to prepare yourself. If you play 35 odd ODIs in a year and 10 test matches and 45 days of IPL and Champions League, then all of a sudden you hear there's a warm-up game, it's a very difficult scenario to mentally prepare yourself for the game which really reflected on the field. India's much-hyped middle order, which included big hitters Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni, failed to get going on Sunday and the only meaningful contributions were a half-century from opener Virender Sehwag and an uncharacteristically slow 32 from Yusuf Pathan. Only a special effort from the spinners and an Australian batting collapse turned the game in India's favour. In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested due to a hamstring niggle, the procession of India's specialist batsmen came and went without troubling the scorers too much. This is proving to be a cause for concern. HOME PRESSURE Although the likes of Pathan, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are vastly experienced in ODIs, they are all making their World Cup debuts -- a tournament that is gruelling enough mentally without the added pressure of playing at home. With the old rearguards such as Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly gone, Dhoni will be looking to Sehwag and Yuvraj to draw on their experience in guiding the new crop of players through the tournament. You know the kind of talent we have got, we just need to get off to a good start and the middle order needs to contribute, said Dhoni. Dhoni himself is a key player and will look to draw on his own experience of the 2007 World Cup, where India were eliminated in the group stages. I am talking about my experience to mentally play in a game like this especially after what we saw in the 2007 World Cup. The first two games were really good for us. After that I don't know where we lost, he added referring to India's unexpected defeat by Bangladesh." http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cramped-calendar-hampers-mental-preparation-dhoni/749845/2

[Sachin=GOD]

Like all captains he is also making excuses before the tournament starts :headshake:

[asterix]

Excuses coming, thick and fast. Any comments about their busy shcedule of various Advertisment, Fashion Shows, Talk Shows etc. affecting their preparations? WELL OFCOURSE, NOT..

[ravishingravi]

^not captains with strong motivated teams. Although, none of these things one ever hears before the IPL or champions league. Even if it is true, the timing is just awful.

[Sir_Afridi]

If you cannot handle the heat,get out of the kitchen.

[satyam1729]

Pressure is showing up.

[ravishingravi]

If you cannot handle the heat' date='get out of the kitchen.[/quote'] Luckily, Pakistan team is so average and expectations are so low, that it might never enter the kitchen. With India and the hype surrounding them pressure will be enormous. They are on the stove whether they like it or not.

[yoda]

BS by Dhoni. STFU and play.

[Sir_Afridi]

Luckily' date=' Pakistan team is so average and expectations are so low, that it might never enter the kitchen. With India and the hype surrounding them pressure will be enormous. They are on the stove whether they like it or not.[/quote'] Pakistan is already in the kitchen lead by greatest Pathan ever and he is not making any BS excuses of schedules,injuries etc. :crazy4:

[vvvslaxman]

I dont think anyone takes this world cup seriously. It appears as if world cup is just a sideshow for Dhoni & co. I won't entirely blame Dhoni as BCCI is also somewhat responsible for player break down. Frequent clash with Srilanka could have been avoided. As far as IPL goes, you don't have any responsibility as such. Having said that India did not tour zimbabwe with full team. It was a B team. So they did have their break. As far as failure in the warm up match goes, it was not the attitude. It was the form. Yuvi, Dhoni, Raina none of them have been in any great form.

[vvvslaxman]

Pakistan is already in the kitchen lead by greatest Pathan ever and he is not making any BS excuses of schedules' date='injuries etc. :crazy4:[/quote'] Wasn't he giving BS excuse that he didn't get the team he wanted sometime back. :winky:

[ravishingravi]

Pakistan is already in the kitchen lead by greatest Pathan ever and he is not making any BS excuses of schedules' date='injuries etc. :crazy4:[/quote'] :haha: Yeah, he is one step ahead. One can only hope Greatest Pathan ever doesn't retire mid way through the cup.:winky:

[satyam1729]

:haha: Yeah' date=' he is one step ahead. One can only hope Greatest Pathan ever doesn't retire mid way through the cup.:winky:[/quote'] :haha::haha:

[The Outsider]

After watching the series against South Africa, I was wondering the same thing. Not just from India's but South Africa's point of view as well. Both the test and ODI series were such intense battles where every day, session, and hour had to be contested at the top of one's ability. How will these players get geared up for something like the World Cup in such a short span of time? The format does offer the teams a lot of leeway in the initial stages, but it's equally important not to enter the knockout phase completely knackered in form. Personally, I feel this is going to be a bad year to follow Indian cricket. World Cup, IPL, WI, England, CL, WI, Australia - there is only so much cricket these players are capable of playing at their best possible level.

[Sir_Afridi]

Wasn't he giving BS excuse that he didn't get the team he wanted sometime back. :winky:

Thats not a BS excuse. Captain should get the players he want because they get all the blame after a loss especially in sub continent. Imran Khan once resigned from captaincy because he did nto got the team he wanted. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjYxMxY-YLc]YouTube - Imran Khan On When a Captain Should Resign.[/ame]

[asterix]

Pakistan is already in the kitchen lead by greatest Pathan ever and he is not making any BS excuses of schedules' date='injuries etc. :crazy4:[/quote'] Pakistan is in the kitchen, occasionally as a maid servant to clean the utensils and kitchen. Can't make any excuses because they don't get many opportunities to work in the kitchen..Most of the time surviving on ICC doles.. :hehe:

[ravishingravi]

After watching the series against South Africa, I was wondering the same thing. Not just from India's but South Africa's point of view as well. Both the test and ODI series were such intense battles where every day, session, and hour had to be contested at the top of one's ability. How will these players get geared up for something like the World Cup in such a short span of time? The format does offer the teams a lot of leeway in the initial stages, but it's equally important not to enter the knockout phase completely knackered in form. Personally, I feel this is going to be a bad year to follow Indian cricket. World Cup, IPL, WI, England, CL, WI, Australia - there is only so much cricket these players are capable of playing at their best possible level.

I don't feel anyone would disagree with you there. But with IPL and champions league you are packing up your calendar voluntarily so you shouldn't even be talking about it when playing for you country in the biggest tournament. It is like a player called for his country complaining he played way too much county cricket. As for the intense series, I think Australia last time around had an even worse schedule with ODI and 7 test series in Australia followed by ODI series in NZ which they lost 3-0 less than 3 weeks before the cup started. Even they had complained about this NZ series to the board, but once the preparation starts for the Cup talk was all about winning the cup.

[The Outsider]

^ Well, I have been saying that IPL will kill off Indian cricket right from the day it was launched. The last thing I am is an IPL sympathetic. However, the fact is IPL is there and it's not voluntary for the players despite what some might have you believe. The BCCI and franchises will make sure by hook or crook that the top 20-25 players are playing the IPL. No one would care about IPL if it wasn't for the top 20-25 Indian players in the league. It's the public demand, so to say. Now the same public wants their favorite stars in IPL and CL, they rejoice all over India watching cowlashes and dibbly dobbly bowlers being swatted like flies and at the same time they also want these 20-25 players to retain their intensity and top performances for India's international commitments. Both cannot happen, unfortunately.

[saneindian]

Dhoni isn't talking about international matches here. If I read it correctly, he's talking about the mental preparation for the warm up game(s). "all of a sudden you hear there's a warm-up game, it's a very difficult scenario to mentally prepare yourself for the game which really reflected on the field." For such games, teams do take it easy and don't go at full throttle, but like always our media has picked one part of a sentence and made a screaming headline out of it.

[asterix]

BCCI's Rajiv Shukla has scoffed at M$D's remarks and says that "BCCI has a very CLEAR policy about players feeling the stress of tight schedules, in which the players can take rest whenever they like. Nobody is FORCING them to take part in IPL and Chumpions League.." :hehe: