‘Yes, you need family. But you also need a team’: Kapil Dev calls for balanced approach to players’ families on tours | Cricket News

Former India World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev delved into the BCCI’s recent diktat on limiting the duration of family visits for the Indian players while on tour. Dev said that the issue, which has been a real contentious one, needs a more balanced approach.
“Well, I don’t know, that’s individual. I think it’s the cricket board’s call,” said the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational’ event.“My view is, yes, you need family. But you also need a team, all the time.”
“In our time, we used to say to ourselves — not the cricket board — that the first half of the tour should be cricket, and in the second half, the family should come and enjoy it too. It should be a blend,” he added.
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After India’s 1-3 Test series defeat against Australia, a BCCI directive was issued which curtailed the family time of players for no longer than 14 days on tours exceeding 45 days. The new rules were drafted after India’s horror tour of Australia, leading to speculation about lack of discipline and cohesion in the dressing room.
Last Sunday, Virat Kohli had taken a swipe at the rule, saying, “The role of family is very difficult to explain to people…how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something which is intense, which happens on the outside.”
“I don’t think people have an understanding of what value it brings. “I don’t want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. Then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility.”
“Not in a vague sense, but in a very real way that you finish your commitment and then you come back to your house, you’re with family, and absolutely normalcy in your house and normal family life goes on.”
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“So, for me, that is absolutely a day of immense pleasure. I won’t miss any opportunities to go out and spend time with my family whenever I can,” said Kohli.