Kohli complains of cramped schedule ahead of SA tour

Nagpur, Nov 23 - India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday said a cramped schedule ahead of important challenges such as the South Africa cricket tour sometimes comes in the way of preparations.

India will finish their limited overs matches against Sri Lanka on December 24 (final T20I) before they fly off to South Africa on December 28, with the first Test starting on January 5. They play a two-day warm-up tie, starting on December 30 at Boland Park, Paarl.

In South Africa, the Kohli-led side will play three Tests, five One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

"As usual cramped for time, which I think we needed 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 at the pre-match press conference ahead of their second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Friday.

"And everyone starts judging players when results come after Test matches. But it should be a fair game, where we get to prepare the way we want to and then we are entitled to be criticised. So we thought this (getting seam-friendly wickets at the ongoing series) is an ample opportunity for us to challenge ourselves, put us in a situation (which they expect to encounter in South Africa)," he added.

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