Indian skipper Virat Kohli on November 23 took a dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and said that board’s poor planning was hampering the team’s performance. Virat gave this statement while addressing the press conference ahead of the second Test match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur.
When asked about whether Team India was using the Sri Lankan series as a build up to the upcoming series against South Africa, Virat said,
Yes, unfortunately, we get only two days before we fly to South Africa after this series gets over. So we have no choice than to be in game situation and think of what’s coming ahead for us. Had we got a month off, ideally, we would have done proper preparation in a camp sort of scenario. But we have to make do with what we have.
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During the two-month-long South Africa tour, Team India will play 3 Test matches, 6 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 3 T20 Internationals. Indian skipper said the players should get ideal time to prepare themselves for the series before being criticised for their poor show.
As usual, cramped for time, which I think we need to assess in future because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad, but we don’t look at how many days we got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play. Everyone starts judging players when results come after Test matches.
When questioned if he had asked for the bouncy tracks during Sri Lankan matches, Kohli replied,
Yes, I want players to take this series as an opportunity to test themselves.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankans will be looking to create history by winning a Test match on Indian soil when they take on the Men in Blue in the second Test match of the three-match series in Nagpur. The match will start at 9: 00 AM IST on November 24.
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