Bengaluru: Star batter Virat Kohli supported the presence of players’ families on tours, saying he would always prefer having personal support around him to deal with tough and intense days on the field, instead of sulking alone in his hotel room.
A BCCI directive which was issued after India’s 1-3 Test series defeat against Australia had curtailed the family time of players for no longer than 14 days on tours exceeding 45 days.
The wives, children, or girlfriends of players could be with them for a maximum of one week on shorter tours.
Speaking at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of Indian Premier League 2025, Virat said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, “It is very difficult to explain to people how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something intense, which happens on the outside.”
“I do not think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it is like people who have no control over what is going on are kind of brought into conversations and put out at the forefront that, ‘oh, maybe they need to be kept away’,” he added.
Virat said that no player would like to “sit alone and sulk” after a poor showing during a tour.
“I want to be able to be normal. And then you can treat your game as something that is a responsibility. You finish that responsibility, and you come back to life,” he said.
“Like, there could be different situations happening in your life all the time. And that allows you to be normal. Not in a vague sense, but in a very real way that you finish your commitment, and your responsibility, and then you come back to your house, you are with family, and there’s absolutely normalcy in your house and normal family life goes on. So, for me, that is a day of immense pleasure. And I would not miss any opportunities to go out and spend time with my family whenever I can,” he concluded.
Notably, Virat was part of India’s ICC Champions Trophy winning team recently, emerging as the team’s second-highest run-getter and overall fifth, with 218 runs in five matches at an average of 54.50. His standout knocks included a 100* against arch-rivals Pakistan while chasing 242 and a 98-ball 84 against Australia in the semifinals during a tough run-chase of 265 runs.
He will be a part of RCB’s IPL 2025 season, starting with the tournament opener against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on March 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Not only would a maiden IPL title be on his target, but he also has plenty of batting records. He is the highest run-getter in tournament history, with 8,004 runs in 252 matches at an average of 38.66 and a strike rate of 131.97, with eight centuries and 55 fifties.
Last year, he finished the season with an Orange Cap for most runs, with 741 runs at an average of 61.75, with an impressive strike rate of 154.69. He scored a century and five fifties and hit 38 astonishing sixes. His team qualified for playoffs last season after a horror first half where they won just one match out of eight, following it with a remarkable and inspirational turnaround by registering six wins on the trot to make it to the final four.
