Rohit hints at unease over BCCI directives

Mumbai: BCCI's new directives for players, including family presence limits, face backlash. Skipper Rohit Sharma defends team dynamics amid scrutiny.

Mumbai: The much in the news 10 directives prepared by BCCI to India players on international duty don’t appear to have gone well within the team. Skipper Rohit Sharma snapped at a question asked on it at Saturday’s press conference after the Champions Trophy squad was announced. “Who told you about this? Has it come from the official BCCI handle?” he shot back.

Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma (R) and Ajit Agarkar current chairman of the BCCI selection committee, address a press conference in Mumbai on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Indranil Mukherjee / AFP) (AFP)

Later, at the end of the news conference, Rohit was caught on the mic telling chief selector Ajit Agarkar seated next to him that he would have to sit with new BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia on the family clause as “everyone” (players) was asking him.

Restriction on family presence, limited to 14 days during an overseas tour spanning over 45 days, is one of the more contentious directives prepared by BCCI in the aftermath of the 1-3 Test series loss in Australia. This rule had been in place before, but since Covid it had been relaxed, and families were allowed to be with the players for the entire duration of the tour.

The feeling within the board establishment is that the constant presence of families was taking away the scope for team bonding activities outside practice hours. With reports of certain players preferring to travel with their partners on separate flights between venues and regularly opting out of optional practice sessions, BCCI decided to crack the whip on these issues too.

“I suppose every team has some rules in place. We’ve spoken about various things over the last few months where you can improve as a team, where you can get a bit closer as a team,” Agarkar said, confirming that the SOPs had been laid out.

“It’s not a school. It’s not a punishment. You have some rules in place and when you’re playing for the national team you just follow those rules. Again, these are mature individuals, superstars in their own right in international sport. But at the end of the day, you’re eventually representing your country. There are certain things that you just inherently follow as every team does.

“I think a lot of them have been in place. Maybe we’ve spoken about it now and it’s been put out. You keep on refining it as you go along. Eventually what suits the team, you want to try and do.”

Domestic participation

The chief selector refused to call it a diktat but made it clear that Indian players, as and when possible, will have to play domestic cricket going forward. It’s another of the BCCI directives to the players.

“As selectors we expect people, when they’re available, to play because that can only strengthen our domestic structure. Not just for their form or their fitness and playing cricket, but it can only strengthen our domestic structure.”

Agarkar also made it clear that between the conclusion of the Sydney Test (Jan 5) and the next round of Ranji Trophy matches starting on January 23, there was enough time for players to rest and get back into whites.

Rohit to play Ranji

Rohit confirmed that he will play the upcoming Ranji match for Mumbai against Jammu & Kashmir at home. With that, Mumbai’s will be a star-studded playing eleven. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer and captain Ajinkya Rahane are all set to play.

Rohit adds to the growing list of India players who are set to play Ranji. Rishabh Pant (Delhi), Shubman Gill (Punjab) and Ravindra Jadeja (Saurashtra) are expected to play. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are nursing niggles – stiff neck and elbow – and will miss from action.

‘Gambhir trusts the captain on field’

Rohit tried to quell reports that he and head coach Gautam Gambhir were not on the same page on many cricketing matters. “Both of us are very clear in what we want to do. I’m not going to sit here and discuss what goes behind every game tactically, but it’s very clear in my mind and Gautam Gambhir is somebody, once we enter the field, he trusts what the captain is doing on the field,” he said.

“The basic talks that happen are only off the field, in the ground or maybe in the changing room. But once we take the field it’s all about what I do on the field. That’s the kind of trust we have in each other and that’s how it should be.”