Behavioural coaching for cricketers

New Delhi, January 21 

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) is mulling a behavioural counselling programme for the Indian team in the wake of the furore over sexist comments made by Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul on a chat show. The Indian cricket board has suspended the two cricketers and their fate will be decided by an ombudsman to be appointed by the Supreme Court. The programme will also include all age-group national teams and the A squads.

“The Indian senior team as well as the emerging, the A teams and the U-19s will have behavioural counselling session at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The course will deal with every aspect of a professional sportsperson’s life. There will also be sessions on gender sensitivity,” said a senior BCCI official.

Incidentally, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, in his observations after the Pandya-Rahul episode, had also suggested that young players undergo gender sensitivity programme so that they are well equipped to face the spotlight when they get into top-flight cricket. While the senior team will attend a few sessions, the course will be more relevant for India’s U-19 cricketers, especially with the IPL riches coming their way even before they turn 20. “Players like 17-year-old Prabh Simran Singh (Rs 4.8 crore, KXIP) or Prayas Ray Burman (Rs 1.6 crore, RCB) have become overnight millionaires even before playing a single Ranji match. There should be life coaches to counsel them,” a former India player said. — PTI