Star India batsman Virat Kohli has voiced his disagreement with the BCCI’s decision to limit players’ family time on tours, saying he would always prefer having personal support around rather than sulking alone in his hotel room.

Following India’s 1-3 series loss to Australia and an unprecedented 0-3 home defeat to New Zealand, the BCCI reportedly decided to impose stricter regulations on player conduct during overseas tours. As per the new directive, wives, children, and girlfriends can only stay with the players for a maximum of 14 days on tours exceeding 45 days, while shorter tours allow just a week of family presence.

Speaking at RCB’s Innovation Lab summit, Kohli explained how crucial family support is for professional athletes.

“The role of family is 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,” he said.

“I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings,” Kohli added.

Kohli, who has always emphasised mental well-being, believes having loved ones around helps players recover from on-field disappointments faster.

“I don't want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. Then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility. Not in a vague sense, but in a very real way that you finish your commitment and then you come back to your house, you're with family, and absolutely normalcy in your house and normal family life goes on. So, for me, that is absolutely a day of immense pleasure. I won't miss any opportunities to go out and spend time with my family whenever I can,” Kohli said.

The former India captain also criticised the involvement of people “who have no control” over the situation in such discussions.

“I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's going on are brought into conversations and put out at the forefront of that—'oh, maybe they need to be kept away'. And if you ask any player, do you want your family to be around you all the time? You'll be like, yes,” he added.

BCCI’s tough stance after Test failures

The BCCI’s decision to restrict family time stems from concerns that the presence of wives and children might be affecting players’ performances, especially on overseas tours.

During the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, families of several Indian players stayed in Australia for the entire series.

The review meeting in Mumbai, attended by head coach Gautam Gambhir, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and captain Rohit Sharma on January this year, led to the reinstatement of the pre-Covid rule that limits family visits.

A BCCI official stated that family presence had been observed as a ‘distraction’ to some players, leading to the enforcement of a time limit.

Additionally, the board has cracked down on individual travel, making it mandatory for all players to travel together on the team bus. This decision reportedly comes after officials noted that certain players were opting to travel separately instead of with the squad.

“Keeping in view the team unity, now all the players will travel by the team bus only. No matter how big a player is, he will not be allowed to travel separately,” a report stated.

‘Convincing my mom was harder than fitness training’

Kohli also shared a personal anecdote about his fitness journey, revealing how difficult it was to make his mother understand his dietary choices.

“Support system (for fitness) from the team's point of view wasn't tough. Convincing my mom what I was doing was way harder. She was very disappointed in the fact that I wasn't eating any parathas and I was looking weak on the field,” Kohli said.

And I was like, you know what, there are people who are playing in other countries asking me how I'm training. And how I'm very fit now. And you're telling me I'm looking weak. So I had to convince her that everything's fine, I'm not sick, don't worry. That was way harder,” he added.

(With inputs from PTI)