BCCI Planning New Rules to Stop ‘Girlfriend Culture’ During IPL Matches

The Indian cricket board is thinking about bringing strict new rules to control what some people call “girlfriend culture” during IPL matches. This comes after similar rules were already put in place for the Indian team in international cricket.

The issue has become a hot topic lately. Many top players like Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh have been seen with their girlfriends at team hotels. They have also been spotted walking with them to the team bus.

A BCCI official said they are talking about this matter. “We are discussing this among ourselves. It will be discussed in the next BCCI meeting,” the official said. He also made it clear that there is no problem with wives and family members staying with players. “But we will have to be a little more serious about girlfriends,” he added.

The official explained that the board already put similar rules in place for the national team. Those rules worked well, but they only talked about wives and close family members. Girlfriends were not clearly mentioned in those rules. Now they want to apply the same idea to the IPL as well.

The board also believes this move will help the IPL’s anti-corruption team do their job better. With fewer people coming in and out of team hotels, it is easier to track everything and keep things safe.

Another worry for the board is that many of these girlfriends are popular social media influencers. They have a large online following. The board fears that team information could get leaked, even if it is not done on purpose.

There is one big challenge though. In international cricket, the BCCI has full control over everything. But in the IPL, there are ten different teams and each team is managed privately. This makes it harder for the board to keep an eye on everything happening off the field.

One officer from the IPL anti-corruption unit said the current rule allows wives and “officially announced girlfriends” to stay together with players. But that might change soon. “It’s certain that the BCCI will now introduce stricter rules regarding whether or not to stay with a girlfriend,” the officer said.

                                               

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