Mumbai: The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Wednesday (October 17) decided that wives and girlfriends (WAGs) of Indian cricketers can join their respective spouses after the first 10 days of an overseas tour.
India captain Virat Kohli, who is married to Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, had recently requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to extend the WAGs' stay during tours away from home.
The Times of India reported that after the first 10 days, WAGs will be able to be with their husbands till the conclusion of the tour. Post the series against the West Indies, Kohli's men will be travelling to Australia in November, where they will play three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs.
The report added that the presence of WAGs during long tours will help the cricketers as they act like a support system. After clinching the Test series 2-0 against West Indies, Kohli's band will now switch to the limited-overs formats where they will play five ODIs and three T20Is against the Caribbeans.
Earlier, Kohli had appealed to BCCI to change their rule preventing wives of the cricketers from accompanying them on the entire overseas tour.
Kohli initially raised the issue with a top BCCI official who in turn conveyed the team's request to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by Vinod Rai and Diana Edulji.
The CoA then asked Indian team manager Sunil Subramaniam to make a formal request to change the rule. "The request was made a few weeks back but as it is a BCCI policy decision, the manager will have to submit a formal request first. Anushka has been travelling with Kohli overseas, however, Kohli now wants the old rule to be abolished and a new policy should come up where wives should be allowed to travel with the Indian team," a source said.
"Yes he (Virat) had requested, but we are not going to take any decision soon. We have said that we will leave it to the new office bearers. The policy will not change now," ANI had quoted the CoA sources.