Jagmohan Dalmiya, India's powerful cricket chief, has scuttled a move by top players to shoot commercials in South Africa during the short break between India's tours of West Indies and England. The Indian team, which returned from the Caribbean on Wednesday after a two-month tour, are due to fly out to England on June 18 for another 11 weeks of hectic cricket.

Six top players, including vice-captain Rahul Dravid and leading bowler Anil Kumble, planned to use the 12-day break to travel to South Africa to film advertisements for a South Korean electronics giant.

But Dalmiya - a former president of ICC and now back in charge of the Indian board - reportedly threatened to drop the players from the England tour if they went for the shoot, saying he wanted them to rest at home between the two tours.

"We advised them not to go ahead with their programme as the gap between the two series in West Indies and England was too short," Dalmiya told reporters.

"The English tour is likely to be tough. So, the players need to stay focussed on the game."

Dalmiya said he would not have objected to the shoot if the gap between the two tours had been bigger, or if the filming had taken place in India for a couple of days.

Officials said the players had agreed to heed Dalmiya's warning and cancelled the trip. Besides Dravid and Kumble, the other players involved were the recently retired seamer Javagal Srinath, offspinner Harbhajan Singh, batsman Virender Sehwag and new wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra.

The Calcutta-based Telegraph newspaper said Dalmiya was irked that the players complained about too much cricket, but when the opportunity arose they did not think twice about tiring themselves shooting commercials.

The players are bound by contracts only when they play for India, and face no restrictions in their spare time, but the threat of being dropped from the side proved too great to ignore. The players concerned refused to speak about the matter.

The national selectors are due to meet in Dalmiya's home city of Calcutta on Saturday to pick the squad for the limited-overs triangular series against England and Sri Lanka. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Bombay, but Dalmiya had it shifted to his home base.

India are also due to play four Test matches in England after the one-day series ends. The Indian cricketers are in the middle of a gruelling schedule that involves non-stop cricket until after the World Cup in South Africa next February-March.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd