Virat Kohli has forgotten he has given OK for such hectic schedule, reveals Diana Edulji

Just five days after finishing an ODI ended against Australia on January 19 in Bengaluru, India kicked off a T20I in Auckland as part of a five-match series followed by an ODI and Test series. With the T20 World Cup being played later this year in Australia, India did not rest anyone from the squad and picked a full-strength squad from those available, which means the players had little time to adjust to the rigours.

Kohli was not kind to the hectic scheduling saying the travel time and the packed schedule "will be taken into consideration a lot more in the future" but accepted that international cricket has become like that lately. While former BCCI big-brass Rajeev Shukla held the formerly CoA accountable for the mess-up, Diana Edulji left no stone unturned to revert back - both to Kohli and Shukla.

“Virat complaining now is definitely strange, I feel that he is playing so much of cricket that he forgot that he has given OK for such a schedule. We didn’t force this on the players. They knew that they would be landing in New Zealand three days before. It’s written in the minutes. Only after they (players) gave their consent was it approved,” Edulji told the Indian Express.

“We had asked if the players wanted to change anything. We passed the FTP only after the players and the coach okayed it. Before making the statement, Kohli should have thought that he was part of the discussion where this FTP was formed," Edulji added.

The minutes that Edulji claimed also attest to the fact that indeed the FTP was approved by Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Ravi Shastri in the meeting with the CoA in November 2017 with the representatives of the team appreciating the efforts of the BCCI team in addressing their concerns on the high number of playing days per season.

“FTP (2019-2023). Mr Rahul Johri presented the proposal for International FTP. The Team Representatives [Kohli, Dhoni, and Shastri] appreciated the efforts of the BCCI team in addressing their concerns on the high number of playing days per season, long overseas tours and preparation time before a marquee series/event and gave their consent to the proposed FTP," the minutes said, reported Indian Express.