Indian batting star Virat Kohli has spoken out in favour of allowing families to accompany players on overseas tours, emphasising the essential support they provide during challenging phases of a player's career. His comments come after BCCI’s new guidelines were introduced, limiting the presence of players' families on international tours following India’s disappointing Test series loss to Australia earlier this year.
"It's very difficult to explain to people how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something which is intense, which happens on the outside. I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's 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 during the RCB Innovational Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of IPL 2025.
Virat Kohli further expressed that families play a crucial role in helping players improve their performance.
"If you ask any player, do you want your family to be around you all the time? You'll be like, yes. I don't want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk," Kohli said. "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,” Kohli said.