BCCI targetting cricketers’ wives -- Anushka, Sanjana, Athiya and Prithi -- is in bad taste

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So, the review or post mortem for the Border Gavaskar Trophy Series for Team India in Mumbai last week has made a great finding, wives have ruined performances! How mindless is this that.

If this is even one per cent logical, did Jasprit Bumrah fare well, bowl his heart and back out to claim 32 wickets. Was his wife Sanjana Ganesan a nuisance? Well done, BCCI. If this is how you think, something is wrong.

Or if these inputs have come from coach Gautam Gambhir, who himself gets a rating score of 01/10 for non-performance and chairman of selection committee, or tourist Ajit Agarkar, something is flawed.

First the success of Bumrah. The BCCI has treated him badly, that is the coach and the captain. He has over-bowled in own zeal, before the breakdown in the Sydney Test. When Bumrah went back to his hotel room each night, surely wife Sanjana must have comforted him daily. Last week, there was a furore in media and social media when Larsen and Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan advocated a 90-hour working week. Worse, he said, employees can work on Sunday instead of staring at their wife.

Surely, the BCCI must not have thought players went for the BGT Series and were only staring at their wives. Or, has someone said Virat Kohli failed to play the ball outside the off stump and was repeatedly getting out as he was thinking of his wife Anushka Sharma all the time! Secondly, did KL Rahul get distracted because his wife Athiya was also there in Australia. All this is crazy. To cap how long players' wives can be on a tour with husbands is crazy. Players have faced tough times to be away from families when cricket was played in a Bio Bubble during the Covid pandemic. How can the BCCI presume presence of better half did damage to their performance is baffling.

One must not confuse wives with wags. In tennis, football and almost every sport, globally, players travel with boyfriends, girlfriends or partners. In Europe and the US, the concept or wags is well known. Surely, the BCCI cannot equate a wife with a wag. If this solely is the reason for batters failing, and most bowlers being clueless, something is wrong with the BCCI think-tank. Can anyone deny R.Ashwin would have consulted his wife Prithi before flying out of Australia with his family after he abruptly announced retirement after the fourth Test. Ashwin was lucky she was with him in the toughest moments he has faced in his career where he had to make a big decision.

On the decision to cut salaries and go in for a corporate structure, fantastic. Nobody plays Test cricket just for money. For that, players have the IPL and commercial endorsements plus more. If performance linked bonus is there, how much extra will the BCCI give Jasprit Bumrah? Last but not the least, if performance is to be factored, head coach Gautam Gambhir and all the assistant coaches deserve zero pay for the BGT Series. Gambhir was also carrying a manager around in Australia is another news. If the BCCI wants to fix responsibility, do it with sensibility. Not plant stories in the media. Such news must be shared with the entire media. What has now happened is respected wives have been targeted indirectly by the BCCI.