"You are here for a purpose"- Gautam Gambhir disagrees with Kohli on BCCI's family rule

Team India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has supported the BCCI’s new guidelines regarding the limitation of family presence during long tours. According to the rule, families can accompany players for a maximum of 14 days for tours lasting longer than 45 days. For shorter tours (less than 45 days), the family can stay for a maximum of one week i.e., seven days. 

Earlier, Virat Kohli had voiced his concerns over the rule, stating that families are important to be around, especially when you’re going through rough times on the field.  

"It's very difficult to explain to people how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something which is intense, which happens on the outside," ESPNcricinfo quoted Kohli as saying.

"If you ask any player, do you want your family to be around you all the time? You'll be like, yes. I don't want to go to my room and just sit alone and sulk. I want to be able to be normal. And then you can really treat your game as something that is a responsibility. You finish that responsibility, and you come back to life," he added. 

'Families are important, but you are here for a purpose'- Gautam Gambhir

India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was recently asked to voice his opinion on the same. In an interview conducted by Cheteshwar Pujara, Gambhir highlighted the privilege of being in that dressing room and the importance of serving the nation, which he described as the players’ primary responsibility.

 "Families 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.” Gambhir said. 

While Gambhir did acknowledge the importance of family presence, he stated that the most important goal for the players should be to make their country proud. 

"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. Gambhir added. 

The third Test between India and England is underway at Lord’s Cricket Ground. At stumps on day 1, England were 251 for 4 with Joe Root (99) and Ben Stokes (39) at the crease.