Players feel safe in the bubble: Virat Kohli

As a precautionary measure for the novel coronavirus, everyone associated with the premier T20 tournament has been put up in a secluded area, which will act as temporary home for the next couple of months.

 “We are a part of the bio-bubble and there are some things that we cannot afford to do. We have accepted the situation around us. That would not have been the case if we had the option of doing everything,” said Kohli, who along with his RCB teammates Devdutt Padikkal and Parthiv Patel paid tribute to ‘COVID-19 Heroes’ during a webinar on Thursday.

 “In our first team meeting, we spoke about being appreciative of what is in front of us. Acceptance is the biggest change I have experienced. Because of that, all of us are really relaxed in this environment. I haven’t seen people get sad or upset. Everyone has had a smile on their faces,” added the India skipper.

 Kohli, working under director Mike Hesson and head coach Simon Katich at RCB this time around, also praised the people who are putting in the hard yards behind the scenes to make IPL 2020 a success in these testing circumstances.

 “The bio-bubble has been created for us and we have started to feel very safe in this environment. That can happen only when other people come out of their comfort zone and make sure that we are safe. A lot of difficult things are done on a daily basis, which we don’t get to see. This applies for all teams and the tournament in general,” he said.

 The 13th edition of IPL will be hosted without spectators across three cities – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE. On playing behind closed doors, Kohli explained: “It will be a strange feeling. Having gone through practice sessions and a couple of games with the team, the feeling has changed a little bit. Our intensity level or passion won’t drop. There is a larger reason and we will stay true to that. We have an opportunity to bring joy to many people.”