However, he did blame after-parties and the fatigue from constant travel during the IPL and asked players to be “smart” about things around the tournament.

“Players also need to be smart, not only about cricket but about other things going around in the IPL. We have to respect your body and give some time for it to recover because there is more to it than playing matches. Attending parties and travelling takes a toll,” PTI quoted Dhoni as saying.

Dhoni, however, refused to blame the IPL for India’s exit from the T20 World Cup. He said, on the contrary, the tournament produced players like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ohja and Amit Mishra. The IPL helped India in match preparation before the T20 World Cup, he said.

Sachin Tendulkar, at that time, disagreed with Dhoni on blaming IPL parties for India’s exit from the T20 World Cup.

“Parties and performance are two different things that cannot be related and every player should know his responsibility. Parties used to be held even in the past,” he told reporters.

At the same time, Master Blaster admitted that he did not go for any of the IPL parties as he “always wanted to be ready for the next match”.

IPL and T20 World Cup

IPL 2010 started on March 12 while the final was held on April 25. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), led by MS Dhoni, defeated Sachin’s Mumbai Indians to win the cup. Within a week or so, the T20 World Cup 2010 started on May 1.

This time, IPL 2024 started on March 22 while the final will be held on May 26. Again, within a week or so, the T20 World Cup will start on June 2.

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Published: 14 Apr 2024, 07:40 AM IST