Virat Kohli urges Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI to consider length of future overseas tours?

Life in the bio-bubble has been difficult for everyone. As sports have made a comeback, players have been expected to remain strictly in quarantine and within a bio-secure bubble for months on end. After an initial few months, many players have started showing signs of mental fatigue and strain and many have opted out of tours to be with their families. The latest to join this conversation is Bangalore's captain, Virat Kohli. 

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Virat Kohli on the bio-bubble and mental health

The COVID-19 lockdown has spawned multiple conversations on mental health and the part that human contact plays in our lives. Talking to RCB TV ahead of the Bangalore vs Hyderabad eliminator, captain Kohli has said that the BCCI, under Sourav Ganguly will have to seriously consider things like the "length of the tournament or series one is going to play and what impact it will have on players mentally to stay in a similar environment for 80 days and not do anything different."

He added that while the teams were doing their best to make life in the bubble entertaining and fulfilling, players still needed the freedom to "have space to just go and see family or small things like that" because "at the end of the day, you want the players to be in the best state mentally. Those conversations should take place regularly." He also added that while the players understood how privileged they were, to be able to do what they loved, but it does get difficult at times because it is repetitive."

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Dream11 IPL 2020 playoffs: Bangalore vs Hyderabad eliminator 

By the time they get on to the field against Hyderabad on Friday night, Virat Kohli and co. will have been in the bubble for more than 75 days. If they qualify, it will mean another five days in the bubble, and that is just for the team members who are not a part of the India squad for Australia tour. For senior players like Kohli, the grind will not stop, as they leave for Australia right from Dubai and will play their last game there on January 19, 2021 - five long months from the Dream11 IPL. However, even then, India are set to host England almost right after the Australia tour for a Test match series, which could make it another month of cricket at venues away from their families potentially.

For foreign players like Jofra Archer and Sam Curran who came to the Dream11 IPL straight from their national series against Australia, West Indies and Pakistan, this period was even longer. Both players admitted that they were mentally exhausted by the end of the Dream11 IPL. Especially since most foreign players chose to travel without their families. Kohli's voicing of his concerns should help open up the conversation around mental health in sports in a broad way in the country.

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India Squad for Australia Tour

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Image Credits: AP