India's superstar batter Virat Kohli stressed on the importance of family's presence on overseas tours. In the aftermath of the 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in its directive limited the amount of time players' families can be on the tour. Kohli, in an indirect response to BCCI's directive, said that people on the outside don't understand the value of family on tours.
"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," Kohli said during the RCB Innovational Lab Indian Sports Summit ahead of IPL 2025.
"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.''"
Kohli wants 'absolute normalcy'
The 36-year-old said that it benefits players to come back to normalcy after the game. He further said that he won't miss any opportunities to spend time with his family.
"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. 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," said the former Indian captain who is a father of two young kids.
"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're 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 won't miss any opportunities to go out and spend time with my family whenever I can."
Kohli's wife Anushka Sharma was present at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final. The Bollywood actress and producer spent some time at the ground with Kohli while the players waited for the presentation ceremony after beating New Zealand to claim the title.