In an attempt to end India’s string of poor performances, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a rather bold decision. To try to bring back sanity and order, the BCCI has made it so that wives and families of the players are not allowed to join them for the whole tour of internationals.
This decision came after India’s poor showing in recent series, especially recently at home in New Zealand, where they were whitewashed 0-3 in the test series. In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Indian team was humbled 1-3 by Australia. It seeks to solve issues related to distraction and constant reminding of unity among the team members.
According to reports, the new BCCI guidelines are back to the pre-COVID policy restricting the number of families on international tours. Wives and families are allowed in the latter half of the tournament or series for 45 days, with not more than 14 days of practice included. In case of a short tour, the stay is limited to seven days only. This reversal is expected to show that gamers do not get distracted without having the chance to enjoy what they are playing.
During a review meeting in Mumbai, they decided with captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. This has come out strongly in reports that indicate that having families around during the tours is one major reason for the decline in performance by players.
Besides restricting family contacts, the BCCI has enforced a new rule that players stick to the team bus even if they prefer their cars or sit alone in more senior or chartered vehicles. This rule has been set to eliminate some of the feelings that may hinder team unity. In the past, some players had made individual travel arrangements; the board thought this was not desirable since it destabilized the team.
The following changes relate to the issue of personal managers and support staff using the team bus. In the future, any type of indiscipline or carelessness will be prohibited much further, so penalties will have to be imposed for disciplining all negligent individuals.
Opponents claim that avoiding contact with families could only aggravate mental stress arising from lengthy tours. Players have repeatedly described how family and friends’ attributes are handy, especially during tough tours. This argument is the broader attempt to professionalize cricket and to insist that players are singularly committed to the game.
Some players, such as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, whose families traveled with them on recent tours, might be affected by these restrictions. The board’s decision raises concerns about the controversies between players’ quality of life and their responsibility to their team in contemporary cricket.
Although this may appear absurd now, we must understand that such steps are coming from a BCCI simply trying to solve a poor slide in the Indian team. The behavior and attitude towards certain players may still need reevaluation as the team faces other trials in the future: the question will remain if and how often they should adopt discipline over the players’ well-being. Only time will tell whether this trend will result in reinvention on the field or increased conflict within the team. For more fearless sports coverage, visit Stadium Rant.
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