Following a 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has issued strict guidelines to players. Among these, the one that caught the most attention and provoked discussions was regarding the duration of stay for family members and the number of personal staff allowed. Former Indian Head Coach Ravi Shastri, when asked about the guidelines, said he did not have anyone coming with a chef, and also added that he would not have minded it either.
“I don’t remember anyone coming in with a chef in my time because that chef would have been very busy with me. I wouldn’t have minded one or two, because then at least the cuisine could have been different with a glass of red. You don’t have to go to room service all the time. After a while, on tours, you want to minimize things. When there are too many people around, you tend to get distracted,” Shastri said on The Grade Cricketer ahead of the first ODI between India and Australia.
“He (Gambhir) must have seen it’s getting out of hand. So he just put a limit on what can be done and what cannot be done. The good thing for him is that he has got a captain now who is stable, composed, and calm. Gill is the man for the next decade for India. What Gambhir will be looking out for is a nice bench of fast bowlers. With Shami retiring, and Bumrah’s workload management, you need another three to be groomed quickly,” he added.
‘Not a holiday’
Speaking ahead of the Lord’s Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England in an interaction with Cheteshwar Pujara, Head Coach Gautam Gambhir backed the BCCI’s decision to limit the players’ families on tour.
“Families are important, but you’ve got to understand one thing. You are here for a purpose. It’s not a holiday. You’re here for a huge purpose. You’ve got very few people in that dressing room or in this tour that gets this opportunity to make the country proud. So yes, I’m not against not having families with us.”
“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.
