After the 2019 World Cup ended for team India in a semi-final defeat against the Kiwis, the national side has had a very busy schedule. Right from touring to West Indies for a full-fledged tournament including T20Is, ODIs and Tests, the team has hosted around 5 teams till the time. And now, they are all decked up for an overseas series in and against New Zealand.
Owing to the back-to-back series and matches, Virat Kohli was recently found expressing disappointment. The Indian skipper expressed that he wants the national ruling body of cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to make amendments into the team’s travel schedule.
Virat Kohli was quoted saying, “It’s getting closer and closer to landing at the stadium straight. That’s how compressed the gap has become. This kind of travelling to a place that is seven and a half hours ahead of IST is difficult to adjust immediately. Hopefully, this will be taken into consideration in the future. But this is the year of the World Cup, and every T20 is important. So we can’t lose our focus.”
Well, the board seemed quite upset with the player’s and reverting to the same saying that he should have talked to the board first rather than speaking things in front of the media.
A top BCCI official on the conditions of anonymity told the media, “He has every right to raise a point, but to be fair, all travel plans are made keeping in mind the interest of the players. If you see, we tried to space it out as much as we could post the World Cup when we played at home and the boys were also given a break during Diwali.
“It honestly made more sense to be flying to Auckland from Bengaluru than the team regrouping after a break,” he further added.
“The schedule was tight, but I don’t see what the problem is when it is a schedule made under the CoA and supervised by the CEO. Should this issue not have been raised with them considering the fact that they seemed to be on each other’s speed dial? Even if he would have raised the issue with the BCCI Secretary, it could have been addressed. While Kohli is free to express himself the way he wishes to, there’s a system that needs to be followed for resolution of issues and the core of the system is communication,” he further said.
Team India is currently on a tour to New Zealand for a series including 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Tests. The first T20I is scheduled for January 24th at the Eden Park Auckland.
