Rajeev Shukla backs Virat Kohli, slams BCCI for the Team India's hectic schedule

Rajeev Shukla has backed Indian skipper Virat Kohli who had complained about the hectic schedule of Team India while addressing the media ahead of the 1st T20I against New Zealand in Auckland. Kohli had said that the Men In Blue did not have enough time to recover after the series-deciding third ODI against Australia as they had to depart for New Zealand the very next day.

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Rajeev Shukla backs Virat Kohli

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Rajeev Shukla backed Virat Kohli by saying that the calendar is too hectic and there should not be back to back matches and series as well. He also mentioned that the players must get some rest and also enough time to get acclimatised. He also added that the Committee of Administrators (CoA) should have kept this in mind before finalising the schedule.

Read the tweet here:

Team India's hectic schedule

The only relief that the Indian team got was almost a month's rest after World Cup 2019. Team India's World Cup campaign ended on July 10 and they were then seen in action against West Indies in a bilateral T20I series on August 3. However, since then, they have been playing non-stop cricket. 

After the conclusion of the West Indies series, India hosted South Africa in a three-match T20I series followed by the three-match Test series. In less than a fortnight, they hosted Bangladesh in three T20Is and two Tests which included that pink-ball Test at the Eden Gardens. They hardly had any time to recover after that as they hosted the West Indies in a limited-overs series which comprised of three T20Is and five ODIs.

Then after a short break, the Men In Blue kicked off the new year by hosting Sri Lanka in thee T20Is which was followed by three ODIs against Australia. Now, India are in New Zealand in what is a grueling tour where they will be playing five T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.

The series will conclude on March 4. However, Kohli & Co. will then need to gear up for more action as they will be hosting South Africa in three ODIs which starts from March 12. After that series, the Indian players will then be seen in action in the 13th edition of the IPL which will be played from March 29 to May 24. 

The players did manage to get some rest in between. However, there were some players who were injured as well. They include the likes of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Bumrah had suffered a stress fracture while Pandya has suffered an acute lower back injury. Even Shikhar Dhawan ended up injuring his shoulder while fielding during the third ODI and was ruled out of the New Zealand tour.

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