Kapil Dev advocates balanced approach to players' families on tours
New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI): Legendary cricketer Kapil Dev is all for family travelling with cricketers on tours but has also called for a balanced approach in dealing with the contentious issue that has divided opinions.
Following India’s 1-3 Test series loss to Australia, the BCCI issued a directive limiting the duration of family visits on tours lasting more than 45 days, allowing a maximum of 14 days of family time.
For shorter tours, players could bring their families for a maximum of one week.
"Well, I don’t know, that’s individual. I think it’s the cricket board’s call," said the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, speaking on the sidelines of the 'Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational' event.
"My view is, yes, you need family. But you also need a team, all the time."
During the recently-concluded Champions Trophy, players like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammed Shami had their families with them in Dubai but did not stay at the team hotel. The expenses for their stay were borne by the players, not the BCCI.
"In our time, we used to say to ourselves — not by the cricket board — that the first half of the tour should be cricket, and in the second half, the family should come and enjoy it too. It should be a blend," said Kapil, who currently serves as the President of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
Kohli, on Sunday, had expressed his support for the presence of players’ families on tours, stating he would always prefer having personal support around him to help navigate tough and intense days on the field, rather than being isolated in his hotel room.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
