Sunday, March 16, 2025
News

"Don't want to go to my room, sit alone and sulk": Virat bats for family's presence during tours

   SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend    Print this Page   COMMENT

Bengaluru (Karnataka) | March 16, 2025 9:13:11 AM IST
Star India batter Virat Kohli has batted for the presence of families on Team India's tours, saying that having them around brings a balance and normalcy, especially when players face tough times, reported ESPNCricinfo.

Virat's comments come after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) introduced directives restricting players' family time on tours following India's 3-1 drubbing to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home. It ruled that player's immediate families, their partners and children, can only join them for 14 days after first two weeks of a tour of over 45 days. On shorter tours, players can be accompanied by their families for up to a week.

Speaking at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 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 really 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 absolutely normal. Not in a vague sense, but in a very real way that you finish your commitment, 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 absolutely 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 the 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 (KKR) on March 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Not only would a maiden IPL title be on his target, but also 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 trot to make it to the final four. (ANI)

 
  LATEST COMMENTS ()
POST YOUR COMMENT
Comments Not Available
 
POST YOUR COMMENT
 
 
TRENDING TOPICS
 
 
CITY NEWS
MORE CITIES
 
 
 
MORE SPORTS NEWS
Hockey India's 7th Annual Awards: Indian...
Jamieson, Duffy breathe fire as NZ beat ...
'We lost by two balls in the end...': DC...
'Weren't upto the mark': Pakistan skippe...
'We could have restricted them to a less...
Ahmedabad: Mansukh Mandaviya participate...
More...
 
INDIA WORLD ASIA
Uttar Pradesh: Whitewashing of Sambhal J...
MP: Fire breaks out at Kamla Raja Hospit...
64 Maoists surrender before police in Te...
Who said reservation is only for Muslims...
War of words between Jairam Ramesh and A...
'Insult to police': Retired IPS officers...
More...    
 
 Top Stories
SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS to bri... 
From Women's T20 WC to WPL, Amelia ... 
BJP MLA Asha Nautiyal demands 'ban'... 
Bihar Police removes from duty cons... 
"They took all my lines out": Jenna... 
UK: World Sindhi Congress stage pro... 
Tripura: 30.5 kg dry ganja seized d... 
"We could have restricted them to a...