Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla backs Kohli on scheduling

Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla on Friday backed Virat Kohli after the Indian captain raised concerns over the tight scheduling of his team's assignments. Taking a dig at the scheduling of their tour of New Zealand within five days of a home assignment against Australia, Kohli said on Thursday that cricketers are "getting closer and closer to landing at the stadium and playing straight".

Shukla agreed with Kohli. "I agree with Virat Kohli that the calendar is too hectic. There should not be back to back matches and series as well. Players must get some rest and also enough time to get acclimatized," Shukla tweeted.

He also seemed to blame the erstwhile Committee of Administrators (CoA) for the cramped calendar. "CoA should have kept this in mind before finalizing the schedule," Shukla said.

India is taking on New Zealand in a five-match T20 International series from Friday after winding up the three-ODI series against Australia on Sunday. Kohli said the short turnaround is tough given the busy international calendar.

"Well, it's definitely getting closer and closer to landing at the stadium and playing straight. That's how compressed the game has become but I think this kind of travel and coming to a place, which is seven hours ahead of India time, is always difficult to adjust to immediately," Kohli said on the eve of the first T20 in Auckland. He hoped the scheduling issue will be "taken into consideration much more" in the future.

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