No WAGs! Keep away families until 3rd England Test: Management to Virat Kohli's India

Mumbai: Team India players are always accompanied by their WAGs whenever they are away on tour. After the end of the ODI series against England, cricketers such as Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav and few others took time to unwind and spend some special moments with their loved ones.

However, the time has come to do without the presence of their family for at least a month as the team management has advised the players to keep distance from their wives and girlfriends for the first three Test matches.

“We’ve had four days of rest before settling down for the serious task ahead. The players had moved out with spouses, friends and relatives and on Monday we will leave for Chelmsford,” a close team source was quoted as saying by The Mumbai Mirror.

But the decision taken by the management is a calculated one given the circumstances in the past. On many occasions, the poor form of players has resulted in fingers being pointed towards their family members.

Having already lost the ODI series, the Test series against England will be under heavy scrutiny and if there is another wobble early on, the WAGs could come under the scanner. Therefore, the team management has decided to be on the safer side by not entertaining them, at least for the first three games.

Previously, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) proposed an idea of appointing a separate manager to manage WAGS on foreign tours but the Committee of Administrators (COA) denied permission.

Kohli and co. have parted ways with their families already on Sunday as they headed to Chelmsford from London for a four-day practice match against Essex, slated to begin on Wednesday.