MANCHESTER: Two days after former England stumper Paul Nixon revealed that sore hands are the main reason behind MS Dhoni's ordinary show with the gloves on the England tour, the Indian skipper admitted that keeping wickets in English conditions is tough.

"If too many fingers get injured it becomes difficult, especially in these conditions. It is also bowler-specific. I have had more problems with Ishant Sharma than with Sreesanth and Praveen Kumar. Once you come here a few injuries happen. Nothing to really worry about," Dhoni said. When asked if Ishant's pace was the reason behind it, Dhoni said he wasn't sure why his fingers hurt when keeping to the Delhi pacer. "I don't know why it is with Ishant. The ball wobbles and it is difficult to say why it happens with a few bowlers. Generally it swings and swings late."

When asked the obvious question about too many injuries due to a packed schedule and how to keep every player fresh for the challenge, Dhoni said, "I think we will have to (look at the rotation policy). The schedule looks cramped and it is important to give players rest... somebody like Suresh Raina is participating in all the formats for a long time now. It is more to do with the mental aspect. Of course, a bit of good rest helps you to keep the injuries away but that might not happen if you keep on playing."

Will it be fair to blame IPL for the Test series debacle in England? "There is one thing in India, whatever wrong happens in Indian cricket is blamed on IPL. We played IPL in April and we lost a series here in August but IPL is one thing that will always be blamed!

"IPL is a very good exposure in the sense that you play a competitive Twenty20 game.

However, an IPL side comprises of seven Indian players and four overseas players, which means every team lacks strength in one or two departments. When it comes to international cricket, teams are at full strength. So it's a different ball game here. It's a one-off T20 game we are playing and that should be interesting."

On three captains formula: "It is difficult for me to answer because I hardly get to think anything other than cricket. Time will tell whether it is a good thing or not. Of course, you have to see whether all the captains play all three formats or not but yes it does give a bit of rest to them."

Man United fan floored: Dhoni was quite ecstatic to see Man United thrash Arsenal 8-2 in a one-sided game. "Well it was a fantastic game. I was here in 2007 too. It was a big game and being a Man United fan, 8-2 was really fantastic. Hopefully I will see some more games," he said.

Broad bats for split captaincy

England's T20 captain Stuart Board feels there is too much of a burden on one captain if he is asked to lead in all formats of the game. "We're the only team that plays all year round, so to ask one captain to do three jobs is unrealistic. It means playing every day of the year, which the human body does not really allow. Having three captains means different ideas in different formats," Broad said. "Obviously we have Andrew Strauss as a bit of a mentor. He's a successful captain. Alistair Cook (who is the ODI skipper) and I have enjoyed the extra responsibility. It's worked so far and should develop in the future."