Champions Trophy: BCCI allows families to attend one match, prior permission needed

Indian cricketers are allowed to take their families to only one match in the Champions Trophy 2025, India Today has learnt. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier taken strict steps to limit family time on tours after disastrous results against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25.

It has been learnt, February 18 that the players will need prior permission from the board to bring their families to the stadium. India will play all of their matches at the Dubai International Stadium. The Rohit Sharma-led team will play Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand in the group stage, and if they qualify for the semi-final and the final of the tournament, they will play two more matches at the same venue.

"While the focus remains on team bonding and ensuring players are together without any distractions, the BCCI has decided to allow cricketers to take their family members (parents or wives) to one match during the Champions Trophy. However, this is allowed only after prior permission is sought from the board. Players will have to inform the BCCI about the match they wish to have their family attend, and permission will be granted accordingly," a BCCI source told India Today under conditions of anonymity.

An unhappy Indian board had taken strict steps against Indian team after their woeful losses in back to back Test series against New Zealand and Australia. While the diktats were never made official, it seemed that the BCCI had made sure that the India players put their focus back on training and team bonding



and less personal time with their individual family members.

The move came after the Indian team lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3 in Australia. The team was not only hammered in the Test series, media reports coming out of Australia also suggested that the mood in the dressing room was off as well. Multiple controversies hurt the Indian team on their tour of Australia - starting from the retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin, a player projecting himself as the interim captain, and then Rohit Sharma dropping himself from the side in the final match of the series.

Sources had told India Today that the BCCI were not going to allow wives and girlfriends to travel for an extended period of time on tours. Sources added that it has been made mandatory for the players to travel together on team buses and that they have also been asked to pay for extra luggage.

RULES SUGGESTED BY THE BCCI

. If a tournament is a 45-day or longer event, families will only be allowed to stay with players for 14 days.

. If the tour is shorter, the duration may be reduced to 7 days.

. Wives cannot stay with players for the entire tournament.

. Families can only stay for 2 weeks.

. All players will have to travel on the team bus.

. Gautam Gambhir's personal manager will not be allowed to sit in the VIP box or travel on the team bus. He will have to stay in a different hotel.

. If players' luggage exceeds 150 kg, BCCI will not cover the extra charges, and players will have to pay them.