India vs New Zealand: Former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla backs Virat Kohli's statement on tight scheduling of fixtures

New Delhi: Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla on Friday backed Virat Kohli after the Indian captain raised concerns over the tight scheduling of his team’s assignments. [caption id=“attachment_7906731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Virat Kohli during the ODI series against Australia this month. AP[/caption] 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 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 acclimatised,” 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 finalising the schedule,” Shukla said. India are taking on New Zealand in a five-match T20I 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 T20I in Auckland. He hoped the scheduling issue will be “taken into consideration much more” in future.