BCCI has no role to play in food choices of players, says board treasurer Arun Dhumal

After the controversy over the Indian Team’s new dietary plan for Kanpur Test, Arun Dhumal, the treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said that the board has no role in choosing and deciding the team’s menu. He also emphasised that the players are free to choose their food and they can eat whatever they want to.

Earlier, reports stated that BCCI had asked the players not to have beef or pork in the new dietary plan for the upcoming Kanpur Test on 25 November against the Blackcaps. A few reports also mentioned that the BCCI had asked the players to consume only halal meat.

“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,” Dhumal was quoted as saying by India Today. He added that as per his knowledge the board had never issued any guidelines related to diet plans of the players and had no role in determining the same.

Dhumal also mentioned that the halal meat issue has never been brought to board’s attention.

The issue sparked a massive row on social media. Fans slammed BCCI for dictating the food choices of team India’s players. Some social media users also criticised the Indian cricket board for promoting halal meat.

This is not the first time that dietary plans had been shared. It is a usual practice that the cricket teams share their security, logistics requests to the host board before the match. The dietary plan is a particular list of food items preferred by a team. The BCCI usually makes requests for halal meat on overseas trips.

The Men in Blue and New Zealand are about to lock horn in a Test series for the first time since the World Test Championship final earlier this year. The first Test will start on 25 November in Kanpur.