Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday blasted the scheduling of India’s matches at the ongoing T20 World Cup as “ridiculous”, changing his stance on the week-long break having praised it after their Super 12 opener against Pakistan.  

India played their opening match at the showpiece event against the Babar Azam-led side on Sunday, October 24 at the same venue – the Dubai International Stadium – exactly seven days ago. 

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Following the comprehensive defeat in that game, which ended Pakistan’s World Cup jinx against India, Kohli said the gap ahead of the next game will be helpful. He said that the gap will help his side settle down after an intense Indian Premier League season, which ended on October 15. 

“I think it works really well for us from all point of views. Knowing that we have played a full-fledged season already, we played the IPL, which is very high octane by itself in testing conditions here in the UAE, and then we come into the World Cup” Kohli had said.

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“So for us, these big breaks are definitely something that’s going to help us as a team to be in the prime physical condition that we need to be to play this high intensity tournament,” he had gone on to add.

On Sunday, his view changed.

“It’s ridiculous, we are playing twice in 10 days. Too long a break…,” Kohli said at the toss ahead of their match against New Zealand.

However, the 32-year-old acknowledged that the long break helped his players recover from niggles and other minor injuries.

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“Yeah, the guys have recovered well. Had good practice sessions, are itching to go out on the field, which is a good thing. When you have so many days off you want to get on the park and get into the groove,” Kohli added.

After their fixture against New Zealand, India are scheduled to play Afghanistan on November 3, Scotland on November 5 and Namibia on November 8, which will wind up the league stage of the T20 showpiece.