BCCI May Limit Wives' Stay After Down Under Loss

As India tries to recover from back to back defeats in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia, BCCI has identified lack of team bonding and need for a strict fitness regimen as areas to be worked upon. BCCI has received strong feedback from head coach Gautam Gambhir on these issues and will reassess his role after the upcoming Champions Trophy next month.

At a meeting between BCCI, Gambhir, captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, it was decided that there should be curbs on the time players spend with wives/partners on a long tour. The fact that some players prefer to travel alone and asked for separate accommodation on tours was discussed.

Gambhir's role beyond the field too has been questioned and he could be advised to have more team bonding exercises.

"The board is a bit concerned that a team which has been so consistent across formats for more than half a decade is suddenly struggling to click with almost the same set of players. It comes down to a lack of galvanising force in the team. It has emerged that players are consumed in their individual lives once they are done with training or a game," a BCCI source said.

"Players these days have their families around along with a big entourage. Some have even requested to stay in different hotels and a few have made their own travel arrangements within the country. These players are barely seen with the rest of the team. The board is contemplating restricting the length of stay for families to two weeks on a lengthy tour," the source added.

On a key point that emerged from the meeting about rebuilding team spirit beyond game time, the source said, "One expected the team to have a customary celebratory team dinner after India won the first Test in Perth. Instead, everyone in the squad went out in groups.”

“Gambhir went out with his own people. There was only one team dinner during the two-month tour. Previous team management used to organize outdoor activities with the entire team. It helps in building team spirit," the source said.

It has been learnt Gambhir has cancelled the culture of optional training sessions for the same reason. He feels the entire team needs to train together to build synergy amongst the players and there is no point of a few players turning up for practice.

It’s being suggested that the BCCI medical team should go back to having fitness criteria for selection instead of just injury prevention. The previous team management had done away with the yo-yo test which was a key parameter for selection during Virat Kohli’s captaincy days.

"The board had gone lenient on the players since they are mostly on the road. The focus had shifted to just injury prevention. This has been taken lightly by some players. It is being mooted that a certain fitness level criteria needs to be reintroduced so that complacency doesn't creep in," said the source.