Jennings hopes of a turnaround for Royal Challengers in next season

New Delhi, Nov 4 (UNI) Blaming the team's composition for the poor performance in the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, Bangalore Royal Challengers coach Ray Jennings said picking the team at the time of auction was not well planned.

The newly appointed South African coach also hinted that there would be some changes in the squad for the upcoimg season as the fitness level of some of the senior players was not up to the mark.

''If the top guys don't perform, it's time to move on,'' Jennings told 'Cricinfo'. ''When you picked, you would have known that Dravid, Kumble and Kallis might retire soon; the whole Challenger side might be retired in three years' time.

Bangalore Royal Challengers led by Rahul Dravid, appointed Jennings as coach replacing former New Zealand skipper Martin Crowe, after finishing seventh out of eight teams in the inaugural IPL this year. Their chief executive Charu Sharma was sacked midway through the tournament.

Jennings, who is also looking to make some changes in the squad in the place of senior players like Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Anil Kumble, asserted that a turnaround by getting the right players in the right positions would take some time.

''The older guys worry me. IPL is quick and intense for six weeks. They worry me from the point of injury and motivation levels. I am not surprised at the quality of the Test players (selected last year) but the balance of the ages. In three years, many could be retired. To me, that doesn't make sense, Jennings said.

The former South african coach further added that for the sake of the team he will not be influenced by the star players and will try to extract best from everyone.

''If I am not going to replace, then I am going to be replaced,'' he said. ''I don't look at the names but the performances on the field. Name is one thing but I need a guy who needs to make the owner proud on the field. If the top guys can't do it, then it's time to move on.'' However, despite the team's poor performances last year, Jennings was confident of turning things around.

''Throughout my whole life I have taken sides from nothing to something. I wouldn't want to be in for a six-week period. I want to be part of the Challengers for some period of time. It's going to be the biggest challenge in my life.'' UNI RKM RAR HT1812