‘Has someone been leaving early?’ - Aakash Chopra on BCCI enforcing mandatory travel rules for players

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra is surprised by the BCCI making it mandatory for the players to travel with the team for matches and practice sessions. He shared his thoughts on the same in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel. Chopra reckoned that the BCCI forcing the players to do so could be due to the prior misuse. Moreover, Chopra mentioned that coming out to practice together has been a norm for many years. 

“Players cannot travel separately with families. I am extremely surprised by this rule. Going for practice or the match is with the team only. This has been happening forever. If someone wants to practice more, they request the coach. But has someone been leaving early? Some abuse must have happened, that’s why this rule is being enforced,” Chopra said.

For the unversed, BCCI has released 10-point player guidelines to promote discipline, unity, and a positive team environment. The action comes after India lost a home Test series against New Zealand 0-3 and an away series against Australia 1-3. Among several other rules enforced, a major one was the compulsion of players to travel together for the cricket matches and practice sessions.

Yashasvi Jaiswal arrived late to practice session in Australia

Notably, during the Australia tour, Yashasvi Jaiswal missed the team bus for the practice session for arriving late. The team bus left without him and he joined the team, later. However, according to Aakash Chopra, the Jaiswal incident doesn’t reflect the widespread issue.

He also felt that the person who allowed exceptions of traveling separately from the team in the past should be held accountable. Now, the new rule needs players to get permission and approval from both the head coach Gautam Gambhir, and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. Also, failing to do so would lead to sanctions on the player including a ban on featuring in the Indian Premier League (IPL).