If there was one excuse that Indian skipper MS Dhoni should not have made after seeing his side comprehensively hammered for the second Test in a row, it was that of fatigue.

On the face of it he has a point; there were just eleven days between the end of India's tour to the Caribbean and the start of the first Test against England with a three-day tour match sandwiched in between.

But a closer inspection reveals that it is not international commitments that may have left the Indian players struggling while their English counterparts grew from strength to strength.

Since the conclusion of the World Cup, India have played three Tests, five ODIs and one T20I. In the same period England have turned out in the same number of games stretched across the disciplines in identical fashion, the only difference being that Sri Lanka's tour of England concluded with the one-dayers where as India finished their tour of the West Indies with Tests.

One must also remember that the likes of Dhoni, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did not play in the limited-overs portion of the tour and Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Sreesanth did not take part in it at all.

So why then the disparity in stamina levels between the two sides? The answer is quite simple: while England (bar Eoin Morgan) were resting after the World Cup before getting in a bit of county action, the Indian team were engaged in six weeks of Indian Premier League action.

The IPL in itself cannot be blamed though - it is after all the players' decision to take part in the competition.

One can only imagine the pressure on Dhoni and co to turn out in the tournament and there is of course a sizeable pay cheque on offer but it comes down to making international cricket a priority.

The lucrative Big Bash League was recently launched in Australia with the various teams scampering to secure the signatures of the country's stars.

However, two of the biggest names in the game, national skipper Michael Clarke and paceman Mitchell Johnson chose against joining the league. Their reasons for not partaking? They wanted to be as fresh as possible for the coming internationals.

Scheduling in world cricket is often shambolic and taxing but players need to start taking as much responsibility for their physical conditioning as they possibly can. In the professional era there is no room for passing the buck.

But it's not only the players who need to reassess their approach - if ever there was a time for the BCCI to take a reality check this may be it.

Less than four months ago Indian cricket had reached incredible heights having won the World Cup on home soil while topping the Test rankings.

Now, faced with a Test team in disarray, populated with seemingly tired, apathetic and uninspired players, the BCCI have to look at the role they played in getting the team to that place.

India's rise to the forefront of Test cricket appeared to have given the BCCI a rejuvenated outlook on the five-day game and if that is the case then they need to decide what is required to keep India on top.

Perhaps it's time to ease the burden of countless limited-overs clashes (both domestic and international) from the shoulders of the players and set forth on a path that is best for the future of the Indian cricket team and not the BCCI coffers.

It's a nice thought but unfortunately unlikely to happen. Until it does, don't be surprised to see a continued string of listless performances coming from India.

Julia Harris