Following India’s 3-1 loss against Australia in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar series, the BCCI is set to revive the touring protocols for the national men’s team, including a restriction on how much time families can spend with players.
According to sources, a player can be accompanied by his immediate family — spouse and children — for no more than 14 days on tours of 45 days or more, while during shorter tours, families can link up with the player only for a week.
While these directions have been a part of player contracts, those were relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic when players were given the option to make their families part of the team bubble, keeping their mental health in mind.
As things stand, the BCCI pays for the families’ accommodation on tour but not their travel. There will be no change made to that policy provided the duration and the timing of the stay are within the stipulated time period.
Additionally, the national cricket board is also mulling at implementing stricter protocols around independent transport for players while commuting for practice and matches, while any extra luggage, exceeding the limit of 150 kgs, will be at their own expense.
The decision to return to earlier protocols was communicated to the team leadership during the review meeting with the BCCI top brass in Mumbai on Saturday. India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were present during the meeting with board president Roger Binny and secretary Devajit Saikia.
The issue of families accompanying players during overseas tours has been debated widely for long. While there are countless examples of teams in other sports barring families at the team accommodation, cricket boards across the globe have long grappled with the issue.
Similarly in Indian cricket, the presence of families during tours came up for discussion in 2018 when then skipper Virat Kohli had reportedly urged relaxations. However, India’s shoddy show in the Test format over the past few months, that started with a historic 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand, and continued Down Under in the BGT, has forced the BCCI to come up with some corrective measures.
With India conceding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, cricket experts have suggested intense introspection within the team both on and off the field after unsettling reports about the team’s internal atmosphere emerged. India’s performance was marred by controversies, including Ravichandran Ashwin’s mid-series retirement announcement, and Rohit Sharma’s surprising decision to drop himself from the final Test in Sydney.
While Saturday’s review meeting could be seen as a first step to set things in order, the board decided against taking any rash decisions that could negatively impact both the team and the support staff ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, next month in Pakistan and the UAE.