BCCI likely to provide business-class comfort for Team India

Courtesy: Screengrab (BCCI)

New Delhi: If reports are to be believed, Indian cricketers will soon get the comfort of travelling in business-class while on national duty.

Cricketers, who are given superstar status in the country, suffer while travelling in economy-class with fans encroaching upon their space. And at times, it can become cumbersome, specially after a hectic schedule.

According to a report in TOI, the acting president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CK Khanna had proposed this upgrade through a letter to his colleagues to speed up the process.

"We should re-consider this and take a call on it," Khanna was quoted as saying in the report.

The report also claimed that the Indian team management had brought to light the fact that players' privacy and security is often breached by the co-passengers in the economy class.

It's often reported that fans bother the cricketer autographs etc.

There is also the issue of leg-space for tall cricketers like Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma. These players cannot travel comfortably in the economy section.

Skipper Virat Kohli has also reportedly raised these issues with BCCI.

In September, former India captain Kapil Dev had suggested that BCCI should have its own plane to help players travel comfortably.

“Now that BCCI is making good money, it should have its own plane. It will save a lot of time and make life easier for Team India. The board can afford it. They should have done it five years ago,” Kapil Dev told TOI.

But the same cannot be said for other Indian athletes, who often faced haphazard itinerary and poor travel experiences.

If we may, hockey players Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Sunita Lakra and Lilima Minz were made to sit on the floor of their bogey while returning home from Rio Olympics as their tickets were unconfirmed, despite being employees of Indian Railways.

Kohli & Co are currently playing a limited-overs' home series against New Zealand. They have won the three-match ODI series, 2-1, and now lead the T20I series 1-0 after their win in Delhi on Wednesday.

The second match of the three-match series will be played tomorrow (November 4) in Rajkot. The third and final match will be played on November 7 in Thiruvananthapuram.

India will then hosts Sri Lanka.