An ICC spokesman said it has no say in drawing up the itinerary for the tournament. "This has been drawn up by the Asian cricket Council (ACC) in partnership with the teams taking part in it," he said.

He said the ICC Future Tours Programme is a series of bilateral arrangements between its member boards and the ICC's role was to administer these arrangements rather than draw up the schedule.

"All the FTP -- agreed to by all those ICC Members that are a part of it -- does is to insist that a team plays all the others in a minimum of two Tests and three ODIs both at home and away over a six-year period.

Any other matches above that minimum are down to each Board to arrange," he stated. The spokesman said the ICC only monitors the volume of cricket over a 12-month period and the FTP's recommended maximum volume of matches.

"However, each Board determines whether it wishes to adhere to that mark or arrange extra matches," he added. Dhoni had criticised the tight schedule of Asia Cup where his team was forced to play back to back matches in group stage.