Indian players lack temperament to cope (25 Sep 1996)

25 September

'Players lack the temperament to cope with the present cricket scenario'

Rediff on the Net

Raj Singh Dungarpur, the Board of Control for Cricket in India president, says his main task would be to improve the mental and physical strength of players in view of energy-sapping one dayers.

Talking to newsmen after taking over as president of the board on Wednesday, Raj Singh said "Our players lack the physical and psychological temperament to cope with the present cricket scenario which has become very competitive."

"I want to make them strong from the junior level as we have realised that even top players are getting mentally fatigued due to the increased frequency of matches," he said.

Dungarpur said an increasing number of one day matches was necessary to popularise the game and the players would have to adjust to the new structure.

An important step which the board had agreed on was the appointment of a physical culturist immediately on the pattern of the Australian and South African sides. A physiotherapist, he said, was not enough in the present scenario.

Though he said there was no move at present to change the zonal system by which selectors were elected, better scouting needed to be done.

The BCCI president, however, said there was no need to induct former Test players as selectors. "Even the present Australian and English selection committees do not consist entirely of former players," he said, "adding you can only choose from the talent available."

Raj Singh said his other priority would be to improve pitches in the country.

A proposal to keep players under contract for the full year would be considered seriously, he said, so that their physical fitness needed to be improved through a specific regimen according to individual needs.

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