Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has spoken out for the first time regarding the BCCI’s new policy that restricts the duration families can accompany players on overseas tours.

The rule came into effect following India’s Test series defeat to Australia and allows families to be with players for only 14 days on tours lasting 45 days or more. The policy received strong criticism from Virat Kohli, who openly expressed his disagreement with the limitation.

In a recent interview with Cheteshwar Pujara, Gambhir weighed in on the matter, stating that while it's understandable for players to want their families around, they must remember that an international tour is not a vacation.

He added that the primary focus should always remain on cricket, and personal comfort should not take priority over professional commitment.

"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.

So yes, I'm not against not having families with us."

"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 more important than any other thing," said Gambhir.

"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.

I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's going on are kind of brought into conversations and put out at the forefront that, 'oh, maybe they need to be kept away',” said " Kohli said at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.

I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's going on are kind of brought into conversations and put out at the forefront that, 'oh, maybe they need to be kept away',” said " Kohli said at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit.