Families of Indian cricketers 'barred' from accompanying them on tours after poor performance

In a shocking decision after Indian team's poor performance in Test series against New Zealand, the Board of of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly barred the families of cricketers from accompanying them on tours in a bid to ensure better performance, Indian media reported on Tuesday. 

The development came after the Men in Blue suffered a major loss against the Kiwis by 0-3 at home and also lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia 1-3. 

The BCCI took the decision after holding a review meeting on Saturday in Mumbai which was attended by board officials, head coach Gautam Gambhir, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma, according to Hindustan Times. 

The board reintroduced the rule which was scrapped during the COVID-19 pandemic, as per an Indian report. It said that the wives and families of the cricketers will not be allowed to travel on tours.

Officials within the board believe families accompanying players, especially on international tours, affects their performance. 

The new rule says the family members will only be allowed to stay for two weeks if the tournament lasts more than 45 days. For shorter tours, they will be allowed to stay for a week.

In addition to this, the cricket body has also restricted players from travelling separately. "Keeping in view the team unity, now all the players will travel by the team bus only. No matter how big a player is, he will not be allowed to travel separately," read the report.