Girl-friends stay away: Wives join players on Australia tour
MUMBAI: The wives of few members of the Indian team have joined the Australia tour, it is learnt here.
According to the BCCI sources, at least the five players sought permission to allow their wives to join the tour. The wives (named in brackets) of Ajinkya Rahane (Radhika), Umesh Yadvav (Tanya), Rohit Sharma (Ritika) and Harbhajan Singh (Geeta Basra) and Ashish Nehra (Rushma) have joined the tour.
Few of these players were already in Australia for the ODIs’ part of the tour.
The injured player Rahane is recovering well and stayed back in Australia. “He is recovering well and may play the Twenty20 series. He may be available for the second and third Twenty20s, if not for the first match (Adelaide on Tuesday)”, one of his family members said.
“His wife has joined the tour”, the close-family member added.
Rishikesh Upadhyay, the logistics manager has been asked to make necessary arrangements for the “new arrivals” in Australia.
“Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not sought permission for his wife (Sakshi) and daughter (Ziva)”, the BCCI official said. “The tour is very short and perhaps she (Sakshi) will not go to Australia now”, the official added.
“There was no restriction on recently married players and therefore the Indian cricket board has remained flexible on this policy”.
“No player sought the permission for the ODI leg of the current tour”, the source added.
“Even the players’ girl-friends have not joined the team. Anushka Sharma can’t stay with Kohli in the room and Yuvraj is yet to marry Hazel Keech and therefore are unlikely to be on tour”, the BCCI official added.
