Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Former India captain Kapil Dev shared his take on the ongoing debate over players’ families travelling with them on long cricket tours, stating that while family presence is important, it should not overshadow the team’s focus.
The debate over family travel intensified after India’s 1-3 Test series defeat to Australia, which prompted the BCCI to introduce a rule limiting family stays on tours exceeding 45 days. As per the new rule, for series or tournaments lasting over 45 days, family members can join the players for up to 14 days, while for shorter tours, the limit is reduced to just seven days.
“I don’t know… that’s a cricket board’s call, mine is yes, you need a family, but you need a team also all the time with them. In our time, we used to say to ourselves, not by the cricket board, that the first half let us play cricket; in the second half the family should come there and enjoy too. It should be a blend,” Kapil told reporters.
Earlier, speaking at RCB’s Innovation Lab Summit in Bengaluru, star batter Virat Kohli spoke on the significance of having family accompany players on long tours, explaining how their presence aids in managing the challenging and intense days on the field.
“The role of the family is very difficult to explain to people… how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something which is intense, which happens on the outside. I don’t think people have an understanding of what value it brings,” Kohli had said.
He added that spending time with loved ones allows him to detach from the pressures of the game and reset mentally, rather than isolating himself after tough matches.”I don’t want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. Then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility,” Kohli added.
