Gautam Gambhir, the Indian cricket team’s head coach, has broken his silence on the BCCI’s new criteria for families accompanying players on overseas trips. Following India’s Test series loss to Australia, the BCCI implemented a set of restrictions limiting the time family members can spend with players abroad.
Families can join players for up to 14 days on tours lasting 45 days or more, according to the revised rules. The rule sparked criticism from senior hitter Virat Kohli, who openly expressed his displeasure and declared that he did not support the restriction.
Gambhir stated that players should understand that they are not on vacation while representing their country overseas. He admitted that having relatives around is acceptable to some extent, but stressed that the major focus must always be on cricket.
“Families are vital, but you need to grasp one thing. You are here for a mission. It is not a holiday. You’re here for a big reason. You have very few people in that dressing room or on this trip that have the opportunity to make their country proud.
So, absolutely, I’m not against not having family around us,” Gambhir told Cheteshwar Pujara, as reported by NDTV Sports.
“It is important to have families, but if your focus is towards making our country proud and you have a much bigger role than any other thing, and you’re committed to that goal, you’re committed to that cause, I think everything else is fine. But for me, I think that cause and that goal is more important than any other thing,” said Gambhir.
Speaking about the match, England ended Day 1 at 251 for 4, with Joe Root unbeaten on 99 and captain Ben Stokes on 39 at the crease. For India, Nitish Kumar Reddy impressed by claiming the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja picked up a wicket each.
India
