Virat Kohli has reminded teammates about the need to follow the Standard Operating Procedures of the IPL in the UAE and asserted that the bio-bubble restrictions should be non-negotiable for all participants.
The India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain’s comments come in the wake of Chennai Super Kings’ Suresh Raina’s withdrawal from the IPL. The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that there was a “serious breach of discipline” inside the bio-security bubble at Taj Dubai, where the CSK team is staying, following which Raina left the UAE.
Members of other franchises too seemed to be aware of the breach and have since been taking extra precautions to maintain protocol.
“It’s the responsibility of the franchises to follow the rules along with the health agencies. That had been explained to us at the outset. We have got to be aware that any breach by the players or any other member will only lead to complications. We have told everyone to be extra vigilant,” said a franchise official.
Kohli too stressed on the need to follow all protocols. “We are all here to play cricket...The bio-bubble needs to be respected at all times for the tournament to happen eventually. We are not here to have fun and roam around and you know say that ‘I want to hang out in Dubai’,” Kohli said on RCB’s Youtube show “Bold Diaries”.
Suresh Raina Picture courtesy: Twitter/@ImRaina
“That is not the time we are living in. Accept the phase that we are going through and understand the privilege that we have, just to be a part of the IPL. Everyone should accept that and not behave in a manner which the situation doesn’t require them to,”he said.
“A couple of months back you couldn’t imagine that you will have IPL firstly... When we had our practice session, I realised how long it has been. When I was heading to the practice session, I felt nervous,” he conceded.
“I felt a bit jittery but things were okay. I didn’t miss the game as much as I though I might...just carrying on with life was also important,” he said.
Raina finally broke his silence on social media on Tuesday and demanded a thorough probe into the violent attack on his aunt’s family in Punjab, revealing that after his uncle, his cousin has also died.
In his first statement since landing in the country, Raina, however, did not say that the August 19 attack, allegedly a case of robbery, was the reason why he came back.
“What happened to my family is Punjab was beyond horrible. My uncle was slaughtered to death, my bua & both my cousins had severe injuries. Unfortunately, my cousin also passed away last night after battling for life for days. My bua is still very very critical and is on life support,” Raina tweeted.
Following Raina’s post, the Punjab Police formed a four-member special investigation team to probe the attack. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh assured the cricketer that those behind the attack will be brought to justice.
