Picture Credit: X
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has massively been hit after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) enforced stringent rules. With the Indian cricket board trying to get in discipline and unity along with positive team environment, they have also issued a new 10-point diktat, which is set to get underway with the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, set to be played in Pakistan and the UAE from February 19.
Ahead of the tournament, the Men in Blue have received a massive setback with the BCCI denying players’ family to accompany them. In another move, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has additionally been hit drastically after his personal assistant was denied to travel with the team. As per the new rules, personal assistant or managers of support staff are no longer allowed to travel with senior players in the team bus, nor are they allowed to accompany the players or support staff in the same hotel.
Gambhir to be without his personal assistant during Champions Trophy after BCCI enforces strict rules
Seeing Gautam Gambhir’s personal assistant accompany him in all matches and be by his side all the time during, particularly in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in Australia, he is now set to be left out. A source further added that during the England series, the PA stayed at a different hotel and did not travel with the team. A PTI report as quoted by NDTV Sports claimed, "The personal secretary of a member of the coaching staff, who was regularly seen staying at the team hotel, now stays at a different facility even though he has been seen at every venue during the England home series.”
Notably, the gesture of Gambhir’s personal secretary had left several members in the BCCI irked. “Why was his PA sitting in the car specified for national selectors? They can't even discuss things in private with an unknown third person in the car. Why was he allotted space in the BCCI's hospitality box in Adelaide?" a BCCI official had told PTI after the BGT. However, the Indian board is not keen to let it happen as India travels to Dubai for Champions Trophy.
Apart from this, the diktat also states that the players’ family would not be allowed, including wives or partners in the Champions Trophy 2025. If they want them, the player would himself bear the cost of the family’s travel. Additionally, the board has also restricted travel of personal chefs, hair stylists and agents during the tours.
