The issue of wives and girlfriends accompanying Indian cricketers on overseas tours hogged all the attention in 2018 and it seems the issue is not going to be resolved anytime soon. While the BCCI made provisions in their tweaked roster, the continuous presence of Anushka Sharma during the Australia and New Zealand tours has raised eyebrows and thrown the ball back into the BCCI court.
The BCCI now confesses that although provisions are in place for spouses to accompany players during overseas tours, the logistical arrangements for the same prove to be a headache in many ways.
"If the team is travelling with less number of members, it is easier to manage. It's easy for BCCI staff to make off-field arrangements. Right from booking tickets to rooms, the entire management of handling the arrangement is with BCCI," an official was quoted as saying by Times of India.
'Difficult to manage all of them together'
With the ICC World Cup slated to be held from May 30 to July 14 this year, the BCCI is losing sleep over accommodation of families during the event.
"It would be a logistical nightmare if this arrangement - of families travelling with the players - continues to be there in England for the entire duration of the World Cup," the official added.
The board is also not very happy that some players who were not Test regulars continued to travel in Australia with their spouses after the T20I series was over.
"It is difficult to manage all of them together. There is also the problem of arranging match tickets for their families. It has to be regulated. This is not a question of money," the official concluded.
Towards the end of last year, this issue was hotly debated in Indian cricket and former opener Gautam Gambhir said that it should always be a personal choice.
"The player opinion varies. Only an individual can say because the individual has to play a Test match. Some want family to be there for the whole tour while others want little family time and they try to concentrate (on cricket)," Gambhir told India Today.
