The gruelling demands of the Indian Premier League has forced older players to be fitter and on their toes, feels India's ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"This form of the game is very demanding. In a T-20 match you need to have eighty per cent of the energy you need in an entire one-day international," Dhoni told newspersons in Kolkata on Saturday.
Dhoni was responding to a query whether senior players had been pushed on to their toes by the T-20 matches.
"That's the demand of the game, they have to," the Chennai skipper said on the eve of their match against Kolkata at the Eden Gardens.
Harping on his 'mantra' of fitness for ODI and T-20 games, Dhoni said, "It is not a question of young or old. It is a question of being fit. The shorter version of the game demands fit players."
Dhoni had courted controversy a few months ago for backing young and fit players during India's triangular one- day series down under involving Australia and Sri Lanka.
The dashing wicket-keeper batsman said there was no point complaining about the rigorous schedule of IPL matches under oppressive conditions.
"Everybody is aware of the conditions. There is no point complaining. The schedule was given to every team in advance," he said adding, "We have to play as per the schedule and give our best. That's the bottom line."
{{/usCountry}}"Everybody is aware of the conditions. There is no point complaining. The schedule was given to every team in advance," he said adding, "We have to play as per the schedule and give our best. That's the bottom line."
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