By IANS,
Bangalore : Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Thursday said he was quite satisfied with the World Cup schedule, which has drawn criticism from some teams for the six-day gap in some matches.
“It is very difficult to form a perfect schedule and format. A tournament schedule will be either too long or too short,” he told reporters here.
“I am quite happy with the schedule. It will give us time to recover from small niggles,” Dhoni said on the second day of his team’s preparatory camp for the 45-day World Cup that begins in Dhaka Feb 19 with a match between co-hosts India and Bangladesh. The third co-host is Sri Lanka.
The schedule has been criticized, particularly by England’s Kevin Pieterson who questioned the six-day gap in some of the matches his team plays.
The Indian captain said the team would miss fast bowler Praveen Kumar who is nursing an elbow injury. Pacer from Kerala Shantakumaran Sreesanth has taken his place.
Dhoni said it was “unfortunate that Praveen had to miss the World Cup. He is a street-smart cricketer and we will miss him.”
The captain, without mentioning any name, said a few players were “suffering from slight niggles, which is always there but nothing serious.”
The players who have recovered from those ‘niggles’ are Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar.
They along with other team mates hit the nets and gym late Wednesday and will continue the practice till Feb 12 at the National Cricket Academy facility here.
The Indian team will play its first warm-up match against Australia here.