The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided that the office bearers will be taking calls on any player requesting to travel with their partners on a tour. Previously, the captain and the coach were the ones who decided on this as per the rules and regulations of the Committee of Administration. However, the issue has concerned the BCCI enough to change the rules.
On May 21, 2019, the Vinod Rai-led CoA took the decision of giving the captain and coach the authority to decide if wives and girlfriends can travel along. However, from now on, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri will have no say on the matter.
“Any individual request will have to come through the office-bearers. It’s not a big matter, but this is clearly the best way to do it,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying in Hindustan Times.
The rules surrounding the WAGs are a part of the ‘Family Clause of the Players’ Contracts’. “The authority to approve any visits from visitors outside the Visitor Period should vest with the Team Captain and Coach, and this should be reflected in the Family Clause of the Players’ Contracts,” the earlier minutes of the meeting read.
When the previous rule was made, Diana Edulji showed dissent. But after the BCCI made the alterations, she is happy.
“These issues can become complicated in a team environment, and these decisions are best left for the administrators to take. The captain and the coach should be allowed to focus on cricket and the manager keeps tab of these things on tour. With the BCCI run by office-bearers again, they should take the call,” Edulji mentioned.
Some people believe that wives and girlfriends distract the players on tours and should not be allowed to accompany then, hence the rule has come under the scanner.
