The ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri has communicated his disbelief at the BCCI's decision regarding the players' families travelling with them during important overseas tours. The board's action is a result of India's 1-3 Test series defeat in Australia, which revealed a lack of focus and preparation in the team several times.
It is said that the new regulation was implemented to make sure that players keep more concentration and discipline during their engagements of great importance. After the consecutive series defeats to New Zealand and Australia, India lost the opportunity to play the final of the World Test Championship. This is the reason why BCCI has decided to be more stringent with its travel rules.
Ravi Shastri backs Gambhir’s decision, praises Gill’s calm leadership
Shastri believes that having too many people in and around the squad can create distractions, and current head coach Gautam Gambhir may have acted to restore balance within the group.
“When there are too many people around, you tend to get distracted. He (Gambhir) must have seen that it was getting out of hand. So, he just put a limit on what can be done and what cannot be done,” Shastri said on The Grade Cricketer podcast.
The former coach, who guided India to several famous Test victories overseas, added that maintaining such focus requires strong leadership and a composed captain. Speaking about Shubman Gill, who made his international debut under Shastri’s tenure, the former coach backed the youngster to thrive as India’s new leader.
“The good thing for him is that he has got a captain now who is stable, composed and calm. Gill is the man for the next decade for India,” Shastri said.
Gill, who replaced Rohit Sharma as India’s Test and ODI captain, will lead the team in his first ODI assignment against Australia, beginning Sunday, October 19, in Perth. Under his Test captaincy, India drew 2–2 in England before defeating the West Indies 2–0.
