India, Oct. 18 -- The first big change Gautam Gambhir oversaw during his tenure of the Indian cricket team, when it comes to the culture surrounding the squad, was the prohibition of family members and personal staff joining the players during domestic series or for the entirety of overseas tours. A pair of harsh Test series losses, at home to New Zealand and away in Australia, prompted this fresh policy from the BCCI, with a focus on players participating with focused intensity.

This was a controversial decision. Those in favour of it argued that there was little space for sentimentality and that this was about bringing the most out of the players, while its detractors argued that this was the sort of old-school thinking that results in...