Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has finally reacted to the Board of Control for Cricket in India newly implemented policy that does not allow players' families on international tours.
Introduced following India's Test series defeat against Australia, the rule permits cricketers' families to accompany them for just 14 days on the tour that lasts 45 days and beyond.
Although the decision provoked controversy—largely from leading batsman Virat Kohli—Gambhir provided a dissenting view in an interview with Cheteshwar Pujara. He stated that overseas tours are working obligations, not holiday-making sessions, and that the prime focus always should be on cricket.
"Families are necessary, but you need to realize one thing. You are here for a reason. It's not a vacation. You're here for an enormous reason," Gambhir said. "You've got very few individuals in that dressing room or on this tour that get this chance to make the country proud. So yes, I'm not opposed to not having families with us."
He also made it clear that although he does not mind families tagging along with players, representing India at all costs must always be the priority. "It is essential to have families, but if your mind is towards making our nation proud and you have a far larger responsibility than any other thing, and you're dedicated to it, you're dedicated to it, I believe everything else is okay.". But for me, I believe that cause and that objective is greater than any other aspect," Gambhir stated.
Virat Kohli, however, had earlier expressed his dismay about the new policy in his appearance at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.
"It's extremely hard to tell people how grounding it is simply to return to your family every time you have something which is so intense, which is what is happening on the outside," Kohli said. "I don't believe people have any understanding of what worth it does to such a large extent. And I feel rather disheartened about that because it's like people who have no say in what's going down are sort of brought into the conversation and put out front that, 'oh, perhaps they need to be kept at a distance'," he said.
The varying perspectives between Kohli and Gambhir underscore the ongoing argument within the cricket fraternity regarding maintaining professional concentration and individual health in the course of prolonged foreign tours.
Read also| Watch| Triumph Amid Turmoil: Akash Deep’s Sister Applauds His Edgbaston Brilliance
