diff --git a/.github/workflows/kserve_cpu_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/kserve_cpu_tests.yml
index 0f56b392a6..1b9917860c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/kserve_cpu_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/kserve_cpu_tests.yml
@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@ name: KServe CPU Nightly Tests
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
   # runs everyday  at 5:15am
-  schedule:
-    - cron:  '15 5 * * *'
+  # schedule:
+  #   - cron:  '15 5 * * *'
+  push:
+    branches: 'kserve_ci'
+
 
 jobs:
   kserve-cpu-tests:
diff --git a/kubernetes/kserve/tests/scripts/test_mnist.sh b/kubernetes/kserve/tests/scripts/test_mnist.sh
index 5c3532e1e5..ecd34f9255 100755
--- a/kubernetes/kserve/tests/scripts/test_mnist.sh
+++ b/kubernetes/kserve/tests/scripts/test_mnist.sh
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function deploy_cluster() {
 function make_cluster_accessible() {
     SERVICE_NAME="$1"
     URL="$2"
-    wait_for_inference_service 300 5 "$1"
+    wait_for_inference_service 600 10 "$1"
     SERVICE_HOSTNAME=$(kubectl get inferenceservice ${SERVICE_NAME} -o jsonpath='{.status.url}' | cut -d "/" -f 3)
     wait_for_port_forwarding 5
     echo "Make inference request"