Reports | BCCI allowed players to stay with their families in West Indies

The BCCI, after consultation with the CoA, had earlier laid out a rule that the players can stay with their families during tours for only a limited amount of time and any other exception required permission from both the captain and the coach. However, the issue took the spotlight in July as one senior player allegedly violated the rule after staying with his family despite the CoA rejecting his request to do so. 

But according to reports, the BCCI relaxed the 'family clause' during the tour of West Indies and allowed the players to stay with their families for the entirety of the tour. This was apparently done to give the players a bit of leeway after an extremely arduous World Cup.

"It was felt that the players went through a stressful period during the World Cup. The West Indies tour got underway shortly after that. It was important to allow the players to have their families around them," a top BCCI official was quoted as saying by Times of India.

"The long and busy home season starts immediately after the West Indies tour and the families find it tough to travel around within the country," the official added.

While it is clear that Virat Kohli stayed with his wife for the entirety of the West Indies tour, a vast majority of players did not bring their families along due to it being a relatively short tour as not many players featured in all three formats of the game.

"The provision was for every player. There were different teams playing in the three formats in West Indies. Very few players stayed back for all three formats and Virat was one of them.

"Virat is a professional person. He doesn't bend the regulations set for the team. And anyway, his wife had her own itinerary for the trip," the official concluded.