Wives and Girlfriends should not be allowed on cricketing tours.

Wives and Girlfriends should not be allowed on cricketing tours.

Introduction

Following the great mishap with the England tour, considering the case of Virat Kohli who was accompanied by his girlfriend to the tour, the BCCI is planning to restrict the players from allowing their wives and girlfriends during the cricketing tours. The repeated failure of Virat Kohli was already a matter of concern, and his under-performance at England series and spending calm atmosphere with his girlfriend has led the BCCI to think over this matter. The BCCI had allowed the cricketers to accompany their spouse during the tours and they also used to arrange for the stay and seating at the stadium for them.

Instead of a better performance, players seem to get distracted. So, is it fine to say Wives and Girlfriends should not be allowed on cricketing tours?

Yes

- Players get distracted in the company of spouse and forget to excel on the pitch. Their focus seems to be lost somewhere.

- Players spend their valuable practising hours with their spouse exploring the city which is not good to the self-performance of the players or for the team India as a whole.

- Players might be over-concerned about the requirements of their wife and girlfriend. The touring time should be fully focused on the game and its winning prospective instead of other house-hold concerns.

- Players might try to impress their loved-ones sitting in the audience row and lose their focus on the ball and the game. They might also feel the urge to get back to have some more time with their girlfriend instead of having a winning strategy.

- It is an unwanted expense for the BCCI to spend for the spouse of the players during the cricketing tours.

No

- Having their better-halves along will boost up the morale and efficiency of the players. This might increase their performance on the field.

- Not all the players behave in an irresponsible way. They do value time and avoid spending the practise hours in roaming around the cities. BCCI should not place strict restrictions just considering a few cases as examples.

- The concern for the family and the loved ones remains even in their absence. That has nothing to do with their spouse accompanying the tours. Players do have other relations which they are concerned about. BCCI cannot alter the thoughts and emotions by avoiding the spouse on tour.

- Our players are matured enough; and all through till now, we have also visualised good plays by the players who have accompanied their spouse. Few incidences cannot over-view the past brilliant games won with the spouse attending the game in the audience row.

- Expenditure on the travel and stay of the spouse of the cricketers is again a winning strategy to boost-up the spirit of the players. So the expense cannot be called a mere wastage.

Conclusion

Though we can have arguments in favour of players accompanying their wife and children yet we cannot deny the fact that players do get distracted in this manner. They require time to practice and relax during the cricketing tours instead of exploring the city. Instead of gaining encouragement from their loved ones, they tend to lose their focus and it is a loss not only for them but for the team India as a whole. It is understandable on the part of BCCI to restrict the company of wives and girlfriends in the tours, which is nothing but a mere waste of money for the cricket board. Hence, it is good to impose restrictions on the time period of travel for the spouse during the cricketing tours.