Former India captain, Dilip Vengsarkar, has warned of a possible "cricket overkill" to the Indian players.

He fears that due to the long IPL schedule, many players in the Indian team may be mentally tired for the ICC World Twenty20, as they leave for England just four days after the Indian league ended in South Africa.

Vengsarkar, who headed the selection panel that picked the ICC World Twenty20-winning team in 2007, also said Gary Kirsten, the India coach, and his support staff now face a huge challenge in re-energising the team in the short period of time available.

The only way to avoid such situations in the future, he said, was for India's cricket administrators to rework the IPL format and reduce its length - all the 15 members of India's ICC World Twenty20 squad play for the eight IPL teams and Zaheer Khan, their strike bowler, is still recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered during the IPL.

"The Indian players are now in a situation where they play two high-pressure Twenty20 tournaments, back-to-back and that's never ideal," Vengsarkar told Cricinfo. "It's the job of administrators to ensure that the players are fresh and ready. Otherwise, there is the possibility of a cricket overkill in India."

IPL needs to be rescheduled

The IPL's schedule and format, he said, will have to be revised first to correct the situation. "The IPL schedule is simply too long and I feel very strongly about it," Vengsarkar said. "It affects the fitness and form of players for major international events. And there are always chances of mental fatigue creeping in. One possible solution is have 10 teams in the IPL playing nine matches each for a maximum of around 25-30 days. I think that's the way to go about it, from the players' perspective."

Challenge for Kirsten

Vengsarkar added that Kirsten has a tough job on his hands to lift the Indian team mentally in time for their first warm-up game at Lord's against New Zealand on June 1.

"It's a big challenge for Kirsten and his support staff to manage this task," he said. "I hope they can pull it off because resting the players completely can't also be done at this point of time. There are just a few days to go and the players have to practice to maintain their form, fitness and match rhythm, which is so important in Twenty20 cricket."

India play Pakistan in their second warm-up game at the Oval on June 3 before moving to Trent Bridge to play their preliminary matches against Bangladesh on June 6 and Ireland on June 10.