ENG vs IND 2025: 'You are here for a purpose, not for a holiday' - Gambhir backs BCCI family rule

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has broken his silence on the BCCI’s new guidelines regarding families accompanying players during overseas tours. Following India’s Test series loss to Australia, the BCCI introduced a set of rules limiting the duration for which family members can stay with players abroad.

According to the new rules, families can accompany players for a maximum of 14 days during tours that last 45 days or more. The rule drew criticism from senior batter Virat Kohli, who openly expressed his disapproval and stated that he was not in favour of the restriction.

Gambhir remarked that players need to understand they are not on vacation while representing the country overseas. He acknowledged that having families around is fine to an extent, but emphasised that the primary focus must always remain on cricket.

"Families are important, but you've got to understand one thing. You are here for a purpose. It's not a holiday. You're here for a huge purpose. You've got very few people in that dressing room or in this tour that gets this opportunity to make the country proud. So yes, I'm not against not having families with us," Gambhir said to Cheteshwar Pujara as quoted by NDTV Sports.

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"It is important to have families, but if your focus is towards making our country proud and you have a much bigger role than any other thing, and you're committed to that goal, you're committed to that cause, I think everything else is fine. But for me, I think that cause and that goal is more important than any other thing," said Gambhir.

Speaking about the match, England ended Day 1 at 251 for 4, with Joe Root unbeaten on 99 and captain Ben Stokes on 39 at the crease. For India, Nitish Kumar Reddy impressed by claiming the wickets of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja picked up a wicket each.