Visakhapatnam, Jun 15 (IANS): Ever since Covid-19 pandemic engulfed the world, cricket has majorly been played in bio-bubbles, where teams won't be in contact with the regular world to avoid being infected with the virus.
After almost two years, India's ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa is the first time where teams aren't subjected to bio-bubble restrictions despite being regularly tested for Covid-19 every day.
Post India winning the third T20I at Visakhapatnam by 48 runs, opener Ruturaj Gaikwad revealed the differences between life spent in bio-bubble and out of it. He admitted that staying in bio-bubble was tough but at the same time, it brought team-mates closer.
"Being in a bubble was tough for a longer period of time. But that one good thing I felt was that the team bonding increased, in whichever team I played for, be it an IPL (Indian Premier League) team or for the Indian team. There were a lot of team activities together. That has really helped and that will stay for the coming years as well," said Gaikwad after the match.
Throwing light on how Indian team is adjusting to life minus bio-bubbles, Gaikwad, who top-scored with 57 off 35 balls, elaborated, "Coming out of the bubble, there are a lot of fans in this country, and a lot of people are gathering near you. And this is the first series (without the bubble) so everyone is taking time to adjust to it.
"Because everywhere we go we are used to enclosed environments (in a bubble). People are not coming towards you and there is distance from all of them. So coming out of that, a lot of fans coming closer to you, asking a lot of stuff, a lot of pictures and all that, so there is a lot of attention, and a lot of distraction as well."
No bio-bubble restrictions mean that the press conferences of the series are being held in-person at the venues instead of virtual links. Gaikwad saw the lighter side of it and felt that questions can't be dodged now that the press conferences are being held in-person.
"Coming out of the bubble, one big difference is this press conference. Having it on the digital screen, you can say I cannot hear anything or there is a slight network issue and you can ignore the question, but you can't ignore the question here. So both being in and out of the bubble have pros and cons. I would say it is better to experience both (life in and out of a bubble)."