The Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli will take a few days break at his home in Mumbai before joining his franchise in Chennai ahead of their first IPL 2021 match against Mumbai Indians on April 9. Since Kohli will not be heading to the RCB from the Pune bio-bubble, he will have to serve the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mandated week-long quarantine before he can start training with his RCB teammates.
In an Instagram story posted on Tuesday (March 30), Kohli wrote, “Nothing like home,” while sitting in the balcony of his posh Mumbai apartment.
Kohli has been part of bio-secure bubbles since the end of January, ahead of the England series, and has been part of each of the four Tests, five T20Is and three ODIs due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now, he will be part of his IPL franchise set-up within two days of India finishing their international home assignments.
On Sunday, soon after winning the ODI series in Pune, Kohli underlined the need for administrators to look at the scheduling, keeping in consideration player movements from one bubble to another in a challenging environment because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Scheduling needs to be looked at in future, because playing in bubbles for so long, two to three months, is going to be very, very difficult going forward,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “You can't expect everyone to be at the same level of mental strength.
“Sometimes you do get cooked and you do feel like a bit of a change. I am sure things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well. But a different tournament, it brings fresh challenges heading into the IPL,” the Indian skipper added.
Meanwhile, the pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj, who flew to Chennai from Pune on Monday afternoon, would be available to training from Tuesday. The IPL guidelines allow players travelling between bubbles to skip the quarantine and start training.
