Former RCB captain Virat Kohli has expressed discomfort over the growing presence of social media cameras around players during the Indian Premier League season. He said players are increasingly being recorded by franchise social media teams during private conversations, practice sessions, and off-field moments in an effort to create viral content.
Kohli called for better regulation and streamlining regarding the kind of footage IPL franchises capture and publish online. His remarks come amid the league’s expanding focus on behind-the-scenes digital content and fan engagement through social media platforms.
“You walk to practice and you have six cameras following you. It’s not a comfortable feeling at all. As a sportsperson, you need to have the ability and the freedom to work on your game in peace. If everything you do is an opportunity to film or display or to dissect, then you are not being organic,” said Kohli on the RCB podcast.
“I’m not going to be able to try to do things at practice which I really want to do because I know tomorrow if someone films it and there are discussions on my practice sessions… 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,” he added.
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Veteran batter urged IPL franchises’ social media teams to be more mindful about what they record behind the scenes and to better understand when cameras should and should not be used around players.
“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. I love the pressure of the game but I honestly don’t love the pressure of anything else,” said Kohli.
“Like social media is a huge part of the commercial representation or the fan engagement for any team, which is understandable. But 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,” he added.
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Kohli also cited an incident involving the IPL’s robo-dog ‘Champak’ while explaining his concerns over excessive behind-the-scenes filming. He revealed that the robotic camera device interrupted a conversation he was having with Kane Williamson, who is currently serving as an advisor for Lucknow Super Giants.
“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. First I ignored the dog and then I told the man controlling it, please take him away. Let me talk in peace. Kane’s my friend. I can’t have a conversation with him without it becoming a ‘moment’,” Kohli concluded.
