Virat Kohli may be one of the most recognisable faces in Indian cricket, but even he admits the constant camera attention around him isn’t always comfortable. The India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) talisman said he wants greater respect for players’ privacy, arguing that teams and tournament organisers should streamline how much of training and pre-match life is captured and shared—especially when players are trying to focus on preparation.
Kohli on why constant filming makes training harder
Speaking on the RCB Podcast, Kohli explained that he struggles to get into a natural routine when he knows cameras are trailing him from the moment he heads to practice. The 37-year-old said the issue isn’t the existence of media coverage, but the feeling that every movement becomes content to be analysed, discussed, and dissected.
- Kohli said that when he walks into training, he often has multiple cameras following him, which he finds “not a comfortable feeling at all”.
- He added that as an athlete he needs the space and freedom to work on his game without distractions, describing the situation as less “organic” when everything becomes an opportunity to film or be broken down.
- He argued that the presence of cameras affects what players are willing to do during sessions, because they know footage can spark conversations later.
- Kohli said players should be evaluated based on performances in matches rather than on how they go about preparation in the nets.
- He also stressed that there should be no assumption of the right to judge a player’s practice choices, especially when those choices are part of experimentation and fine-tuning ahead of games.
“You judge me on my performances during the game, not during the leadup. No one has the right to judge me on what I’m doing in terms of my preparation, the things I’m trying in the nets,” Kohli said in the podcast discussion.
“Streamlining” the social media approach
Kohli further suggested that the pressure around social media coverage has grown too much, and that teams should be clearer about when and how players are filmed. He believes the key is to understand how comfortable a player is with being recorded at all times, and to set boundaries that make training feel normal.
He said the current approach can become excessive, even if fan engagement is understandable as part of the modern IPL ecosystem. Kohli said he enjoys the intensity of match pressure, but doesn’t enjoy the pressure that comes from everything else being turned into content.
“I just feel like there has to be a bit more streamlining in terms of understanding how much to do, when to do, is the player okay with being filmed at all times. Those kinds of things really need to be taken into account because it gets too much,” he said.
He also pointed to the timing of how fan pages and official fan clubs have expanded, arguing that the growth in fan-driven digital spaces happened after the league had already been running for some time—meaning the players and squads weren’t necessarily prepared for that level of constant attention from day one.
“I genuinely feel like there has to be a bit more streamlining, because if you look at the growth of the official fan clubs or the official fan pages of teams, it has taken place after a long period of time when the IPL was already in play. So it’s not a thing that people were ready for from day one,” Kohli added.
Champak robot and Kane Williamson: Kohli’s sideline story
Kohli also shared a specific example from the sidelines of an IPL 2026 match involving RCB and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where he said the cameras and other on-field “content moments” were constantly around. He referenced a Champak robot used by the tournament organisers, describing how it became a distraction while he was speaking with Kane Williamson.
- Kohli said he was talking to Kane Williamson and noticed the robot moving/waving at him.
- He joked that he asked why the robot was waving, even though he was having a serious conversation.
- He said he first brushed off the robot and then told the person controlling it to move it away so he could talk in peace.
- He added that because Kane is his friend, he wants to have a normal conversation without it turning into a “moment” for cameras and storytelling.
“I was talking to Kane the other day, and there’s that robot thing just waving at me. And I am like, ‘Why is this thing waving at me?’ I’m talking to Kane about something so serious,” Kohli said, explaining how he asked for it to be taken away so the conversation could continue uninterrupted.
Kohli’s IPL 2026 form
On the performance front, Kohli said he has been in excellent rhythm in the IPL 2026 season. He is currently the leading run-scorer in the competition’s history and, in this campaign, has amassed 484 runs in 12 matches at an average of 53.78 and a strike rate of 165.75.
Kohli also recently reached a major milestone by recording his ninth IPL century, further underlining his impact as RCB’s batting anchor while he calls for a more balanced, player-friendly approach to filming and social media coverage.
