India captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar held a delayed press conference to announce the team for ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy. Rohit mentioned the need to discuss new BCCI guidelines regarding family travel with officials. Restrictions on players’ family time during long tours were brought up in a meeting after recent Test series losses.
It was after more than a two-hour delay that India captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar arrived for a scheduled press conference to announce the team for the ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy in Mumbai on Saturday.
As the two took their seats and adjusted the mics, Rohit said to Agarkar in a hushed tone that he will have to sit and discuss with the BCCI officials about the new guidelines introduced by the board about wives travelling with cricketers.
A video that quickly went viral on social media, has Rohit saying to Agarkar in his typical style, “I will have to sit (with BCI officials) for one or one and half hour after this. Will have to sit with the secretary to discuss regarding all this family and all, all are saying to me…”
Earlier this week, at a meeting between BCCI, Gambhir, captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar after the back-to-back debacles in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia, it was mentioned there should be curbs on the amount of time players spend with wives/partners on a long tour.
The fact that some players prefer to travel alone and asked for separate accommodation on tours was discussed.
“Players these days have their families around along with a big entourage. Some have even requested to stay in different hotels and a few have made their own travel arrangements within the country. These players are barely seen with the rest of the team. The board is contemplating restricting the length of stay for families to two weeks on a lengthy tour,” a BCCI source had said.
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