With the Indian cricket board shutting out serious concerns raised by the team over their “over-cramped” itinerary for the next year, skipper Rahul Dravid today drew the line firmly, asking the establishment to “get the scheduling right”.

Coming out in the open for the first time on this simmering issue after the rain-marred first Test match against Bangladesh ended in a draw here, Dravid said, “The timing of this series could have been better, but what other time is there? That’s the whole thing, I mean. The schedules are so cramped in some ways, over-cramped, if you ask me. So I don’t know how we are going to fit everything in.”

As reported by The Indian Express on May 17, the Board had first ignored concerns raised by Dravid during a meeting with top officials, including president Sharad Pawar, after the World Cup — the team plays more than 100 days of hard cricket against England, Pakistan and Australia within the next 10 months, apart from the Twenty20 World Cup.

And today, Dravid made it clear that the only way out, if India hopes to field its best XI for every game, was to ensure that they don’t play more than a certain number of matches every year.

“The solution is that we’ve got to get the scheduling right. You’ve got to ensure that you play a certain number of Test matches a year, a certain number of one-day matches a year, and try and not to exceed that number. And plan your tours well, ensure that you prepare for each and every tour well, that you have enough practice games. I think that is critical because at the end of the day, quality is very important. As an international player, you want to play to the best of your ability, and provide quality cricket to people,” said Dravid.

... contd.