Virat Kohli slams BCCI's decision to restrict family time on India's tours

BENGALURU: India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli opposed the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) newly-imposed directive which limits the time cricketers spend with their families on tours, stating having family around brings 'absolutely normalcy'.

In the aftermath of India’s 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, the BCCI introduced a new directive which allowed players’ immediate families – partners and children – can join them after two weeks on tours spanning over 45 days but cannot stay for more than 14 days.

However, on shorter tours, the BCCI’s directive permits the families to accompany the players for just one week.

Speaking at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Kohli voiced his support for allowing players' families to travel with them during tours, emphasising the benefits of emotional support in challenging times.

"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," he stated.

"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'."

Virat Kohli 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.