Players will pull out if mental health suffers in bio-bubbles: Morgan

Bengaluru, October 20: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Eoin Morgan believes players will pull out from tours in future if they feel their mealth health is going to be affected by playing in bio-secure bubbles during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 being held at three venues in the UAE has set up a bubble for players and similar curbs on movement will be put in place with England expected to tour South Africa next month.

"I do think we'll see people pull out of tours. That's just going to be the reality of things," Morgan, who leads England in the shorter formats of the game, said during an online charity event.

Recently, former Pakistan captain and current bowling coach Waqar Younis had raised similar concerns about the mental health of the players as they endure isolating bio-secure bubbles to play cricket internationally or domestically in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It isn't easy for players or officials to spend so much time in the bio-secure conditions and it could eventually affect their mental health," Waqar warned.

Waqar Younis concerned about mental health of players in bio-bubbles

Morgan added it was important to create an environment for players to be comfortable with making that decision.

"I don't think people should look down on it and they shouldn't feel like people aren't doing their job or not committing to their country.

"That's a reactive way of dealing with things and we want to be at the forefront of making it acceptable for people to say 'I need to spend time with my family now and I'm taking this tour off' just because of the extraordinary circumstances," the England's World Cup-winning skipper added.

England had hosted West Indies, Pakistan and Australia after cricket resumed in July, with the teams restricted to playing in Manchester and Southampton where the England and Wales Cricket Board had set up bubbles.

"We've spoken about this as a team and we've accepted that guys will come in and out of the bubble as they feel it's affecting their mental health," Morgan added.

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The 34-year-old recently took over KKR captaincy midway through IPL 2020 from Dinesh Karthik.

KKR are currently perched sixth in IPL 2020 standings and will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (October 21).

(With inputs from Agencies)