IND vs NZ | Bubble fatigue and mental fatigue creeps in, Jasprit Bumrah after India's crushing 8-wicket defeat

After going down by 10 wickets against Pakistan in their first match on October 24, India were handed a 8-wicket defeat by New Zealand on Sunday, October 31. 

Batting first, India could manage only 110 runs with none of their batter crossing the 30-run mark. New Zealand chased down the target with 8 wickets and 33 balls remaining. 

Jasprit Bumrah, who is the only India bowler to pick a wicket at the ongoing showpiece ICC event, has cited bio-bubble fatigue after the defeat which has virtually pushed the Men in Blue out of semi-finals race. 

"Absolutely, you need a break," Bumrah said when asked about the short turnaround period between the second half of IPL 2021 and the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman. 

"Sometimes you miss your family after being on the road for 6 months. All of that sometimes plays on the back of your mind. But when you are on the field, you don't think about all of those things. You don't control all of those things the scheduling and all and what tournament is played when."

Further, the 28-year-old added that doing the same thing over and over again inside a bubble was taxing. However, he added that the BCCI has taken a good care of the players in these testing times. 

"Obviously, staying in a bubble and staying away from your family for such a long time does play a role on the players' minds. But the BCCI has also tried their best to make us feel comfortable.

"But this is the reality of the times we are living in, it's difficult, it's a pandemic and we are staying in bubbles. We try to adapt but bubble fatigue and mental fatigue also creeps in. You are doing the same thing again and again. It is the way it is, and you can't control a lot of things over here," he added.

Team India has been shifting from one bio-bubble to another ever since they left for the UK in June this year. After clashing against New Zealand in the World Test Championship Final (WTC), the players took a 21-day break in the European nation before entering back in the bio-secure bubble again for a 5-Test series against England. The fifth Test of the series was postponed after Covid-19 cases in Team Indian camp. 

The players left for the UAE - the venue for IPL 2021 second leg - following the postponement of the Manchester Test, and underwent hotel quarantine before entering the IPL bio-bubble. The IPL 2021 concluded on October 15, two days before the start of the T20 World Cup 2021 from October 17. 

India next face Afghanistan on November 3.