MUMBAI: Even as India's senior players have hinted at their reservations against the SOPs in the policy towards their family on overseas tours, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) remains firm that the newly-formulated policy will stay in place.
In a conversation with TOI on Wednesday, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia asserted that the Board policy is not something which had been suddenly introduced, but something which was always around.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
"This policy has not been formulated overnight as it was in place for the past couple of decades, dating back to the playing days of our president, Roger Binny and maybe earlier thereto. The new policy is an amendment of the earlier one with some additions relating to presence of players practice sessions , course of the match, tours ; luggage, unison in team movements and other ancillary activities with an objective to achieve team cohesion and unity. In fact, under the new policy, the BCCI has enhanced the duration of the period of stay of the family members with players during an overseas tour with a handle for relaxation of the norms under special circumstances, however, through a process," Saikia told this paper.
"The policy applies uniformly to all members of the team — players, coaches, manager, support staff and everyone in the team— and has been notified and implemented considering everyone’s best interests. The BCCI acknowledges that there may be some resentment or difference of opinions, as in a democratic setup, people are entitled to express their views. At this stage, the current policy will remain intact without any change, as it is of paramount importance for the nation and our institution, that is, the BCCI," said the BCCI secretary.
The BCCI introduced the ten-pointer SOPs following India's 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Under the new policy, spouses and children (aged under 18) can accompany the members of the Indian contingent for up to two weeks if the tour lasts more than 45 days. This policy was first implemented during the recently-held Champions Trophy. However, some senior India players have expressed their displeasure regarding it.
"If you ask any player, do you want your family to be around you all the time? You'll be like, yes. I don't want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. And then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility. You finish that responsibility, and you come back to life," former India captain Virat Kohli said in Bengaluru recently.
‘All players have to play in domestic tournaments’
Saikia also asserted that India’s contracted players will have to play in domestic cricket as and when they are available for them. “There’s another important point that we’ve added in our guidelines. All the players, when they are available, have to play in domestic tournaments. If any player wants to skip or avoid playing in any tournament or match in the domestic circuit, they have to take the approval of the (India) head coach (Gautam Gambhir) and the chairman of the selection committee (Ajit Agarkar). This has been done so that all the young players get a chance to play with the seniors. It will help the senior players in keeping in touch with the game, if they are not playing international matches,” the BCCI secretary said.
'Nitin Patel's contract extended for 3 months'
Meanwhile, Saikia clarified that Nitin Patel, head of its Sports Science wing at the BCCI's new Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru did not resign, but is on a three-month extension, after his contract was over on Dec 31.
"It has been wrongly reported by the media that Patel has resigned. His contract/tenure was over on Dec 31, 2024. Then we made him a special request to extend his tenure by three months, which he agreed to. His extended contract will be over by March 31, 2025. We are trying to get a new person (to replace him). We are in talks with a few people. We wanted Nitin to continue, but he's got a pressing personal (family) issue to attend to, so can't continue, so we will have an alternative person in his place," Saikia told TOI.
