Team India to get 20-day break from bubble life in UK after WTC final: Report

The World Test Championship final is due to be played in Southampton from June 18-22.

India will face New Zealand in the WTC final | GettyEver since the resumption of international cricket post COVID-19 hiatus, the players have been forced to stay in bio-bubbles, where their life is restricted to hotels and stadiums.

No wonder, cricketers are finding it mentally challenging and many of them have only spoken about it.

During the UK tour, the Indian players, however, will get a 20-day respite from the bubble life after the completion of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in Southampton from June 18-22, reported ANI on Tuesday (June 8).

See Also: "Both can do well in English conditions also," Aakash Chopra bats for Ashwin and Jadeja to play WTC final

According to the report, Virat Kohli and company will disperse on June 24 and they are set to return to the bubble for the Test series against England around July 14.

The five-match Test series between India and England is scheduled to be played from August 4 to September 14.

"The group will head off for the break on June 24 after the final against New Zealand and then regroup again around July 14 to prepare for the Test series against England which gets underway from August 4," a source in the know of developments told ANI.

Asked if the cricketers can go to any place during the break, the source clarified it has to be within UK so that there are no issues in regrouping.

"See, it is simple. The boys need to switch off and relax, but we cannot ignore that COVID-19 is still not completely gone. So, the travel plans have to be made in such a way that the boys and the families that are in UK don't get stuck somewhere while taking the break. Imagine going to some other country and then that place gets a travel ban due to a sudden rise in cases. You don't want your players or their families stuck. So, we are looking at places in the UK," the source explained.

Before departing for the England tour, skipper Virat Kohli had also opened up on the tough bubble life.

"I feel like after you are done with WTC, I think it is a great opportunity to refresh and restructure, hopefully, if things are okay, just for the guys to be normal and disconnect again, to understand that we have the pressure of a five-match series. Like in Australia, if we had to contest in a bubble for that long period, it would have been tough," Kohli had said in the pre-departure press conference.

"Just the fact that we had the freedom to go out and access the kind of things there, it gave us space to refresh and reset. I think it is absolutely fine, it will give us time to refresh and prepare for a long series. That kind of setup is important before you go to a lengthy series. The challenge in England can be daunting, so we want to have the time before that series," he added.

(With ANI inputs)

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 08 Jun, 2021

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