NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) – India coach Gary Kirsten’s suggestion that players could be pulled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to keep them fresh was rejected as impractical by former coach and selector Madan Lal yesterday.

Kirsten blamed fatigue on Monday for the defending champions’ premature exit from the Twenty20 World Cup.

Lal, a former Test all-rounder, said Indian players made up the bulk of the multi-million dollar IPL and their presence was crucial for its survival.

“It is not going to be practical because if Indian players don’t play, there won’t be any IPL,” Lal told Reuters.

Former South Africa opening batsman Kirsten said the IPL, which ended just 12 days before the World Twenty20 started on June 5, left players tired and carrying injuries.

A shoulder injury ruled out explosive opener Virender Sehwag while leading paceman Zaheer Khan missed the opening game through a similar injury. Both broke down in the IPL.

The international schedule around next year’s IPL is likely to be even tighter with the International Cricket Council staging another World Twenty20 in the West Indies in April.

“When you lose you come up with so many excuses,” Lal said.

“He should have told the board “we are going for the World Cup and I’m not going to allow this particular player to play in IPL”.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar and Lal said it would be unfair to blame Dhoni alone, after West Indies and England unsettled the Indian batsmen with short-pitched bowling.

“After all in Twenty20, one team is not going to dominate,” Lal said. “Dhoni doesn’t have to say sorry for anything.”

“What the two losses have shown is that some of our young batsmen have little clue on how to deal with short-pitched bowling and both the West Indian and England quicks came hard at them,” Gavaskar wrote in his column in the Hindustan Times.