Gautam Gambhir backs BCCI's decision to restrict family time on foreign tours

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has defended BCCI's directive to limit the stay of cricketers' families during long overseas tours, saying players should realise they are on national duty and not on a vacation.

Earlier this year, the BCCI revised the travel policy following the team's 3-1 defeat against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. As per the new policy, a player's family members can stay for a maximum of two weeks for tours longer than 45 days. For shorter tours, the duration was restricted to seven days.

"Families' roles 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," said Gambhir during a conversation with Cheteshwar Pujara on Sony Sports Network.

Earlier, star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had spoken in favour of having families accompany players, saying personal support helps during high-pressure situations.

Gambhir, however, stressed the importance of putting country before everything else.

"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 far more important than any other thing."

Gambhir further said that he finds it difficult to disconnect from the game during breaks between matches, revealing he was thinking about team combinations minutes after India's comeback win over England in the second Test at Birmingham.

"That's a tough question. I still haven't understood how do I switch off because I never switch off and sometimes it's very funny and it's very weird," he said when asked how he unwinds. Honestly, when we won the last test match, the moment we won the last test match, the first thing that came in my mind was that what is going to be the combination for the next Test?

"And when I went back in my room, I was thinking, how does that work? We've just won a Test match. The guys have worked hard to make a comeback after losing the first one, and I have already started thinking about what's going to be the combination, how can we win the next one? But I still haven't figured out honestly, to switch off."

India are currently playing the third Test against England at Lord's, with the five-match series locked at 1-1.