After India’s poor performance in the five-match Test series against Australia, the BCCI introduced new rules to promote discipline among players. These guidelines cover areas like mandatory participation in domestic cricket, limits on family travel, personal staff, commercial deals during a series, and baggage allowances.
The decision was made after a BCCI SGM meeting, which included head coach Gautam Gambhir, captain Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar, and other board members.
Harbhajan stated that India’s loss was not due to the presence of wives and partners for two months or because some players traveled separately.
“When I was reading the travel policy document reported by the media, I hardly found anything new from the last time I represented India as a centrally-contracted cricketer. At least nine out of 10 points, including duration of family visits, staying in same hotel, practice timings, all are same. My question is if these rules were in place during my time, who all have altered it and when? That should be probed,” Harbhajan said as quoted by the Indian Express.
Harbhajan feels India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 because the team didn’t play well, and the players were “in terrible form.”
The former spinner dismissed the idea that family visits or personal arrangements were to blame for India’s losses. Reflecting on his playing days, Harbhajan talked about the strong discipline of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Anil Kumble. He also mentioned that these cricket legends always stayed with the team, even if a match finished earlier than planned.
“We are deviating from the main issue). We didn’t lose 1-3 because wives and partners were there for two months. We didn’t lose because someone travelled separately.We lost because we have played very poor cricket at times. We didn’t bat well even at home. We have players who are horribly out of form. What are the course corrections being made? Or is it just these off-the-field things being discussed?” he added.
“I think some of the points needed to be revisited because they were being flouted. Like in our times, I never saw a Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid or Anil Kumble leave for Mumbai, Kolkata or Bengaluru just because the match has ended in three days and next game is a week away. They all stayed and travelled to next destination. Only change I see (in the new rulebook) is 150 kg suitcase allowance. Back in the day, we used to have lesser,” Harbhajan concluded.
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Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
