Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma. (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: The Indian cricket board ( BCCI ) had relaxed its family clause for the Indian players after the World Cup in July. TOI has learnt that the players were allowed to have their families with them during the entire tour of West Indies which finished last week.

"It was felt that the players went through a stressful period during the World Cup. The West Indies tour got underway shortly after that. It was important to allow the players to have their families around them. The long and busy home season starts immediately after the West Indies tour and the families find it tough to travel around within the country," a top BCCI official told TOI.

BCCI, in consultation with the Supreme Court-appointed committee of administrators (CoA), the head coach and the captain, had earlier laid out a clause that allowed the families of players to stay with them for only a limited amount of time on tours.

According to that clause, it was suggested that the families would not be allowed for the first 20 days of a long tour and they could only be with the team for any slot of 21 days. However, a senior player had violated the regulation during the World Cup even after CoA had declined his request to have his family accompany him from the beginning of the World Cup.

During the West Indies tour, a majority of the players didn't have their families with them. Skipper Virat Kohli was open about having his wife around for almost the entire duration, putting up photos on social media.

"The provision was for every player. There were different teams playing in the three formats in West Indies. Very few players stayed back for all three formats and Virat was one of them. Virat is a professional person. He doesn't bend the regulations set for the team. And anyway, his wife had her own itinerary for the trip," the official remarked.

