'It's ridiculous': Virat Kohli says 'too long a break' as India take on NZ after seven days in T20 WC 2021

Skipper Virat Kohli said that "it's ridiculous" that the Indian team is playing twice in 10 days in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the break is too long. However, he also added that the team has recovered well.

India played their campaign opener against Pakistan on October 24, which they lost by 10 wickets and during the toss of their second match against New Zealand on Sunday (October 31), Virat addressed the long break.

During toss, Virat said, "It's ridiculous, we are playing twice in 10 days. Too long a break, but 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."

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Virat also said that the game is another opportunity to come out and correct the mistakes and solidify India's position in the showpiece event, which is underway in UAE and Oman.

In the match, New Zealand opted to bowl against India in an all-important Super 12 match. India made two changes to their playing XI with Ishan Kishan coming in place of Suryakumar Yadav, who is suffering from back spasms while out-of-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar made way for all-rounder Shardul Thakur.

For New Zealand, pacer Adam Milne replaced keeper Tim Seifert with Devon Conway set to don big gloves. Virat also said, "We need a solid start and have wickets in hand to get those extra 20-25 runs are the learnings from the last game."

"We do have the bowling line-up to take wickets, but when you don't have runs on the board one partnership can take the game away from you. We understand that and plans are there to get those extra runs," he added.

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Playing XI:

India: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson(c), James Neesham, Devon Conway(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult