India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday admitted that their packed international calendar had forced the team to treat the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka as preparation for upcoming overseas tours, with the hosts asking for bouncy tracks at home.
India are scheduled to travel to South Africa, England and Australia in the next year. The first Test against South Africa begins less than two weeks after the Sri Lanka series ends. “Unfortunately we get only two days before we fly to South Africa after this series gets over,” Kohli said ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. “So we have no choice but try to be in a game situation and think of what’s coming ahead of us.”
The first Test against Sri Lanka last week at Eden Gardens saw a green top on which India, sent in to bat, got bowled out for 172 in overcast conditions. The hosts turned it around in the second innings, with Kohli responding to his first-innings duck with a splendid century before the match ended in a thrilling draw.
According to reports, Nagpur and Delhi, which will host the second and third Tests of the series, will also have similar tracks.
Kohli then said what many in the media had already pointed out when the fixtures for India’s 2017-’18 season were released. “Had we got a month off [after the Sri Lanka series], ideally, we would have done proper preparation [for South Africa] in a camp but we have to make do with what we have,” he said.
In an apparent dig at both the BCCI and the Indian media, he added, “As usual [we are] cramped for time, which I think we needed to assess in future as well because we [Indian media] very easily assess the team when 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 then asked for the media not to judge players who don’t perform well when they haven’t had enough time to prepare. “It should be a fair game, where we get to prepare the way we want to and then we are entitled to be criticised,” he said.
The 29-year-old also said that the Sri Lanka series was an opportunity for the Indian team “to challenge ourselves” and “embrace being in difficult conditions”.
“If we can feel comfortable about [playing in such conditions] after two or three innings, someone will come good. Once you come good you build on that confidence,” he said.