As Team India's international season comes to an end, the focus will shift on to the 14th edition of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL), which will serve as one of the major dress-rehearsal for players and teams to see where they stand ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup later this year, that will take place in India only, not just for the home side but also for teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa and West Indies as at least 9-10 players are participating in the 2021 season from each country.
However, living in bio-bubbles can definitely take a toll on players' mental health as they are subjected to their hotel rooms and can go out only to the stadium for training. After being in Team India's biosecure bubble, all the players will be in the IPL bubble for a period of seven weeks now and then will be back in the Team India bubble due to the packed schedule for the year ahead.
Skipper Virat Kohli was asked about the support staff getting a break for two months for the length of the IPL, he was quick to suggest that the future tour programmes (FTPs) need to be looked at given that the players are staying in the bubble for long periods of time for a stretch.
"Scheduling is something that need to be looked at in future because playing in bubbles for so long [2-3 months] is going to be very very difficult going forward and 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'm sure the things will be discussed and things will change in the future as well.
"A different tournament so it brings in fresh challenges heading into the IPL," he added.
Many of the players have been in bubbles since the last IPL as soon as the 2020 edition ended the players were on the flight to Australia and after coming back from Australia, they did get a 10-day break and were subjected to another bio-bubble that of England series for almost two months.
