The BCCI is on the move. Six defeats in the last eight Tests, including three of them at home to New Zealand, have shaken up the top brass of Indian cricket. The result is a 10-point diktat sent to all the stakeholders, the players in particular. The motive behind that? “To establish guidelines that promote discipline, unity, and a positive team environment while ensuring professional standards and operational efficiency during tours and series.”
The diktat starts by emphasising the importance of domestic cricket, making it “mandatory for players to remain eligible for selection in the national team and for central contracts” and ends with a polite reminder to the players that they are “expected to adhere strictly to the above guidelines” and ” non-compliance may lead to disciplinary action as deemed appropriate by the BCCI,” which includes “sanction against the concerned player from participating in all BCCI-conducted tournaments including the Indian Premier League; and deduction from retainer amount/match fees under BCCI Player contract.”
This is as strong as it gets from the richest cricket board in the world. In recent memory, the board has never issued such public notices to its players.
There were other important points related to travel, luggage, personal conduct and discipline. But the one non-cricketing point that attracted the most eyeballs was BCCI’s “family travel policy.” Players travelling with their families during long overseas tours is nothing and has been happening for years. The board agreed that it ensures a “balance between players’ personal well-being and team commitments” but applied some reasonable restrictions.
What BCCI’s Family Travel Policy says
• Eligibility: Players absent from India for more than 45 days during overseas tours can be joined by their partners and children (under 18) for one visit per series (formatwise) of up to a two-week period.
• Provisions: The BCCI will cover shared accommodation with the player for the Visitors’ Period. All other expenses are to be borne by the player.
• Coordination: Visits must be scheduled at a single time during dates agreed upon by the Coach, Captain, and GM Operations.
• Exceptions: Any deviation from this policy must be pre-approved by the Coach, Captain and GM Operations. Additional expenses outside the visitors’ period will not be covered by the BCCI.
What these points basically mean is that Anushka Sharma (Bollywood actor/producer and wife of Virat Kohli), Ritika Sajdeh (wife of Rohit Sharma), Athiya Shetty (Bollywood actor and wife of KL Rahul) and other partners of the other members of Team India will not be able to accompany them for than 14 days during an overseas tour of more than 45 days under normal circumstances. Moreover, the visits will be restricted to specific formats during a multi-format tour and will have to be done with prior permission from the coach and captain GM Operations.
Previously, there have been instances when the likes of Anushka Sharma, Ritika Sajdeh, and Prithi Narayanan (wife of R Ashwin) have accompanied their husbands for the major part of an Australia or England tour. Anushka, in fact, was present with Kohli for the entire duration of India’s last Australia tour. But the chances of that happening in the future look slim.
