BCCI must address issue of player burn-out, says Raju

Taking into consideration the Indian cricket team's gruelling international schedule, former national selector Venkatapathy Raju on Tuesday said the Board of Control for Cricket in India must address the issue of player burn-out and should have a back-up team of bowlers.

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India had a dream run in the recently-concluded edition 2015 World Cup till the semi-finals stage where they stumbled against Australia, who went on to win the title for the fifth time.

The former India left-arm spinner, who played in two World Cups in 1992 and 1996, said there is nothing wrong in the system but there's a strong need to organise 'A' tours to make a pool of reserve players.

"The amount of cricket the Indians play is a lot more than others, so there's always an issue of burn-out. We should have a back-up of at least five-six pacers and three-four spinners ready all the time. We have some key players like [Ravichandran] Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja who play the longer as well as the shorter versions. So there's always going to be a tendency to burn out. We should have a vision to address the issue," Raju said.

"We have a long domestic season with Ranji Trophy being the benchmark of national team selection. There's nothing wrong in that but it would always be nice to have three-four A tours in between. I'm sure our players would benefit a lot. If you see, in 2007-08 we had a lot of India A tours," he added.

Jadeja recovered from a shoulder injury ahead of the World Cup but the India all-rounder failed to live up to expectations in the mega-event.

Raju believes it was tough for the Saurashtra all-rounder to return and start performing straightaway.

Citing the example of Jadeja, Raju reiterated the need to have a back-up plan ready at all time.

"He was a match winner before playing the World Cup but his form dipped. It was disappointing to see that. But it does happen when you make a comeback. It's difficult to adjust to the top level," the 45-year-old said.

Raju, who was part of the 1992 World Cup team that failed to make the knockout stage, credited the current team for the massive turnaround after the debacle in the Test and OD triangular series in Australia.

"Everybody has written us off, but Dhoni's men did justice to their billing making the last four with an all win record, that speaks for itself."

On the Aussies' invincibility, he said: "The Aussie bowlers had a plan in place for every Indian batsman and they executed it to perfection."

He also felt that the long gap between India's matches might have broken the rhythm.

"Sometimes the momentum gets broken with a long gap, you never know. We have had long, long gaps, sometimes stretching a week."

Hailing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy, he said: "Every captain has their own style of play and Dhoni sticks to his style and it has worked for him many times. He is the one who has given us success in the T20 and ODI formats in recent times."

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