Ajit Agarkar (L) and Rohit Sharma© AFP
The BCCI issued a 10-point guideline for Indian cricket team players following the humiliating Test series loss against Australia. The guidelines included steps like cutting short the stay of families during foreign trips, not allowing personal staff to travel with players and a renewed focus on domestic cricket. During the Champions Trophy squad announcement, chief selector Ajit Agarkar was asked about the 10-point diktat and he explained the reasoning behind them. Agarkar said that the changes were made keeping the players in mind and they were put in place to ensure team bonding and better relationships.
“I think every team has some rules in place. We have spoken about various things you see over the last few months where we can improve as a team and get a bit closer as a team. We have seen in the last few months the need for some changes, more bonding in the team,” Agarkar said.
Agarkar went on to say that this is a not a school punishment for the cricketers.
“It’s not a school, it’s not a punishment. It’s just you have some rules and when you are playing for the national team, you just follow the rules. These are mature individuals. They are superstars in their own right in international sport. They know how to handle themselves,” he added.
“But, at the end of the day, you’re eventually representing your country and there are certain things that you 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 has been put out but a lot of them have been in place in any case. You keep on refining it as you go along, eventually what suits the team, you want to try and do that,” he concluded.
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