BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has clarified that the board has never discussed or dictated food habits among the Indian players, adding that they are free to choose whatever food they wish to eat in their personal diet plans.
Dhumal’s remarks came amid a furore over the ‘halal‘ food as reports emerged that there is a change being made in the Indian team’s dietary plans for the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, starting November 25.
Reports did the rounds on November 23 afternoon that the BCCI has mandated it for the players to not have pork or beef in their diet for the Test match.
This led to criticism of the Indian board for dictating food choices for the players. A section of fans over social media also slammed the board for what they interpret to be a promotion of the ‘halal’ meat.
But Dhumal has cleared the air on the issue, confirming that the board doesn’t get involved in the issue related to the food intake of its players and that they are free to pick and choose whatever they wish to add or exclude in their dietary plans.
“This (diet plan) has never been discussed and will not be enforced. I don’t know when this decision was taken or if it was. As far as I know, we never issued any guidelines related to diet plans. As far as food habits are concerned, it is the individual choice of players, BCCI has no role in it.”
Dhumal was quoted as saying by India Today.
Specifically, on the ‘halal’ issue, Dhumal said it might be down to players’ feedback only, stressing again that the BCCI is not involved in such matters.
“This ‘halal’ thing may have happened on any player’s feedback at some point in time. For example, if a player says he doesn’t eat beef and if a foreign team comes then the food should not be mixed. This halal issue has never been brought to BCCI’s attention,”
he added.
It is not new for a team to be sharing the dietary plans and other such details with the host board. Teams have been making requests to the host board for a preferred dietary plan for a while. The BCCI itself helps the Indian team get their choice of food on tours overseas.
