One of India’s greatest cricketers, Kapil Dev, shared his view on the issue of families travelling with players on overseas tours. He said ”they need family, but they also need the team all the time”.

The legendary cricketer was speaking on the sidelines of the “Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational” event.

“Well, I don’t know, that’s individual. I think it’s the cricket board’s call,” said Kapil.

“In our time, we used to say to ourselves, that the first half of the tour should be cricket, and in the second half, the family should come and enjoy it too. It should be a blend,” said the 1983 World Cup-winning captain.

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Kapil was responding to the topic that has drawn a lot of attention after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a new directive allowing players’ families to travel with them for a maximum of 14 days on overseas tours lasting more than 45 days, and for a maximum of one week on shorter tours. The board came out with the new diktat after India lost the Test series 1-3 in Australia a few months ago.

Kohli bats for family’s presence

Virat Kohli on Sunday (March 16) said he supported the idea of players’ families travelling along with them on overseas tours. He said he would always prefer having personal support around him to deal with tough and intense days on the field, instead of sulking alone in his hotel room.

“I don’t think people have an understanding of what value it brings,” said Kohli. He said having the family around would help a player recover from on-field disappointments that much quicker.

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“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,” said the former skipper.

During the recently-concluded Champions Trophy in Dubai that India won, some of the players’ families were present during the tournament, but they did not stay at the team hotel. And their expenses were borne by the respective player, not by the BCCI.