Ganguly backs Kohli on cramped schedule issue ahead of South Africa tour

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday endorsed Virat Kohlis complaint about cramped scheduling ahead of the important South Africa tour saying the team needed time to prepare before heading off to such tough assignmentsHe was talking about scheduling of cricket which is so correct You got to give teams time to prepare when they go to South Africa Ganguly said while speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2017Sourav GangulyOn Thursday Kohli had said ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka that the scheduling needed to be assessed in future as cricketers are judged easily but things such as practice time ahead of important tours are not looked intoAs usual cramped for time which I think we needed to assess in future as well because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad but we dont look at how many days we have got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play Kohli had saidAnd everyone starts judging players when results come after Test matches But it should be a fair game where we get to prepare the way we want to and then we are entitled to be criticised So we thought this getting seamfriendly wickets at the ongoing series is an ample opportunity for us to challenge ourselves put us in a situation which they expect to encounter in South Africa the India captain addedIndia will finish their limited overs matches against Sri Lanka on December 24 final T20I before they fly off to South Africa on December 28 with the first Test starting on January 5They play a twoday warmup tie starting on December 30 at Boland Park PaarlIn South Africa the Kohliled side will play three Tests five OneDay Internationals ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals T20IsMeanwhile Ganguly predicted that Kohli will surpass batting great Sachin Tendulkars OneDay Internationals ODIs record of 49 tons but the challenge would be to match the Little Master in his Test recordsSachin has 49 ODI hundreds and 51 Test centuries to make it 100 international tonsKohli since making his ODI debut in 2008 has amassed 32 hundreds The 29yearold recently became the fastest to 50 international centuries by racking up his 18th Test ton at the Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka in the first TestVirat will get very close to Sachins one day international hundreds which is 49 He is already 32 He will get close to that He has got to stay fit When I was playing from 19962003 I had 22 ODI hundreds in 7 years Ganguly saidI see that with Virat Kohli as well He has got 30 odd in about nine years It gets tougher with age It got tougher for Sachin it got tougher for me it will get tougher for Virat Kohli said Ganguly who has 22 centuries in 311 ODIs and 16 Test tons in 113 gamesHe plays a lot of cricket I personally feel he will get there To 50 international hundreds with the amount of ODIs that are played the challenge will be in Test matches to get that far Its a terrific feeling to have seen Sachin and now you are seeing this boy Ganguly addedAsked to compare Tendulkar and Kohli Ganguly said they are from different generations adding that Kohli is more expressive and proactive as captain than TendulkarIts not right to compare because these are two cricketers who are from two different generations I have seen Tendulkar very very closely An unbelievable cricketer Some of the runs he has got matchwinning innings he has played is fantasticVirat Kohli a hundred a couple of days ago at Eden Gardens on that pitch and you could see his expression when he finished He is a lot more expressive than TendulkarHe is a lot more proactive than Tendulkar as captain Tendulkar was different maybe the generation was different the batting legend added