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Editorial

Cramped schedule

Virat's boys seem unstoppable at this juncture. They have swatted away the opposition like flies. The Kiwis were the only ones in recent times to put up at least a semblance of a fight. However, a formidable challenge awaits the 'invincibles' in the encounter with South Africa, during the first week of January. Cricket pundits point out that any sub-continent team needs adequate preparation to make the transition from docile, batsmen- friendly wickets to the green top wickets that will greet any team visiting South Africa. Understandably, India skipper Virat Kohli is miffed over the fact that his team does not have much time to acclimatise themselves with the conditions down South, before the Test series. Kohli admits that the team management asked for fast pitches and not rank turners, for which India has gained repute. Kohli said that he wants Team India to get used to fast and bouncy tracks ahead of playing in venues like Johannesburg and Cape Town. "As usual cramped for time, which I think we need to assess in future as well because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad but we don't look at how many days we have got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play," Kohli said. "Had we got a month off ideally, we would have done a proper preparation in a camp sort of scenario, but we have to sort of make do with what we have," Kohli had said last week. The former skipper, Sourav Ganguly, who knows a thing or two about leading India overseas has backed Virat Kohli on the latter's demand for more time to get ready for the tough tour to South Africa. Echoing Kohli's concerns, Ganguly said, "He (Kohli) was talking about scheduling of cricket which is so correct. You have got to give teams time to prepare when they go to South Africa." The Indian team will finish their limited overs engagement against Sri Lanka on December 24 (final T20) before they fly off to South Africa on December 27. Acting BCCI president CK Khanna said the board needs to assess Kohli's view seriously. To preserve and propel a team to further heights it is essential that the comfort of the players' is not compromised upon. Cricket is India's undiluted passion and cricketers undergo difficult circumstances to continue delivering up to their audiences' expectations. Better scheduling ought to be practised to keep players at ease and the tricolour flying with pride.
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