Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma and Gautam Gambhir© Instagram | BCCI/Sportzpics
In the wake of India's poor 2024-2025 Test campaign, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly looking to introduce some stringent rules. Until now, the families of players, especially their wives, had freedom during their stay during long tours, but the Indian board is now about to make some drastic changes. According to a report, the BCCI believes that the performance of players on foreign tours is adversely affected if they stay with their families for a longer period of time. That's why the board wants to reinstate a rule that existed before 2019 that limited families' time with players.
According to a report in Dainik Jagran, the BCCI only allowed families, especially women, to stay with players for two weeks during a 45-day tour. Not only that, each player would have to travel in the team bus along with the other members of the squad. The board will also discourage solo travel.
The BCCI has also tightened the screws on head coach Gautam Gambhir and his manager Gaurav Arora. Gambhir's manager would also not be allowed to stay at the team hotel nor would he be allowed to sit in the VIP box in stadiums. The manager would not be allowed to accompany Gambhir in the team bus or in the bus behind it.
The report also states that the BCCI would waive off charging for players' luggage during air travel if the weight exceeds 150 kg. The players would have to bear those costs themselves.
India Test & ODI captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and selection committee head Ajit Agarkar met BCCI top bosses, including the newly appointed secretary and treasurer, in a meeting where these matters were reportedly discussed.
The future of veteran stars including Virat Kohli and Rohit as well as the tenure of Gambhir's coaching staff were among the key topics discussed at the meeting.
It was also suggested that the tenure of support staff on the team should be limited to three years. The BCCI bosses believe that performance has stabilized as certain support staff have been with the team for quite some time.
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