Former India opener Aakash Chopra recently spoke about the new guideline issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding the team’s travel from the hotel to the field.
Recently, the BCCI made it mandatory for all players to travel in the team bus, meaning no individual would be allowed to travel individually. The change in guidelines comes after India’s 1-3 Test series loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Chopra predicted that the rules might have changed for some players, which is why the board had to specifically announce it. He also criticized the players and coach who were involved in this and blamed them for “a disservice” to Indian cricket.
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Aakash Chopra breaks silence on new BCCI rule changes
While speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra spoke about the new BCCI rule changes, which also involved players traveling together in the team bus to the ground. Chopra praised the board’s decision but questioned why it had to be specifically announced, citing that players riding the team bus are normal.
“The first report, which I liked, was that all the players would travel on the team bus, and I think this has been going on forever. The team bus was called the team bus just for that, since the entire team will travel on that,” said Aakash Chopra.
“At least until we played cricket, the team traveled only in the team bus. It’s a very normal thing. It’s normal. It has to happen like that,” he observed.
“It’s like telling someone that in the morning you will receive breakfast and not lunch. However, if this has been said, it means that some rules have been changed and would have been changed especially for some people,” he added.
Aakash Chopra criticizes players for ‘a disservice’
Speaking further on the issue, Aakash Chopra claimed not to know anything about the player who has been involved in these things but criticized him for not doing Indian cricket any favours. He also believes this would not have happened without the coach’s approval and called him equally responsible for allowing this to happen.
“Whoever did that has made a small joke of Indian cricket and has done it no favors because how can you treat people differently? If not, you didn’t treat them differently, you gave everything “This would not have happened without the coach’s approval,” Chopra said.
“So somewhere the coach or the team management allowed it to happen, which is fine whichever direction you travel and then we can meet on the field. That’s just wrong,” the former India batsman added.
What is the rule change regarding travel to India?
Recently, India head coach Gautam Gambhir, captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar met BCCI officials at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai to discuss the team’s performance in Australia .
Team leaders were asked to return to basic protocols that involved traveling with the team together on the bus instead of opting to go individually. When players are in their hometown, they often attempt to travel individually via their respective vehicles to the ground.