IPL not sole reason for fatigue in Indian team: Lillee

Chennai:

India's World Twenty20 debacle cannot be blamed solely on the Indian Premier League, as the cricketers' fatigue was an accumulated result of their overcrowded calendar feels Australian pace legend Dennis Lillee.

"I do not think that it is just that. It is a combination of all the cricket that is being played and not just one tournament," Lillee said on the sidelines of a camp for National Cricket Academy boys.

India coach Gary Kirsten had blamed the IPL for wearing down the team ahead of the World Twenty20, saying that players came into the big event tired and carrying niggles.

Lillee said fast bowlers were among the worst affected by the ever-increasing quantity of cricket and it is high time international boards introduce a rotation system to preserve them.

"In order to protect fast bowlers in the long term considering the amount of cricket being played these days, it is more pertinent now that the respective cricket boards have to come out with a rotation system used in baseball for pitchers.

"You have to look at that. Fast bowlers cannot keep bowling fast day in day out and stay as fast bowlers. So, you have to look long term to determine how to protect them and make sure that they are fresh when they need to be," Lillee opined.