The TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will be entering its 50th match tonight. Ahead of the match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia will issue a strong notice against the “girlfriend culture” and for the owners in Indian cricket. Many cricketers’ girlfriends are often seen travelling with the team.
Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ishan Kishan have been spotted alongside their girlfriends during the IPL, travelling with the team and staying in hotels, and also the owners like Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of Lucknow Super Giants, who looks the most animated when his franchise plays and enters restricted areas as well. Due to this, the BCCI is set to implement new, stricter rules.
BCCI and IPL are preparing an advisory- BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia
BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia says, "I would like to announce another thing. This time, we have noticed several anomalies and irregularities in the actions of a few franchises as well as some players. Therefore, the BCCI and IPL are preparing an advisory, which we are going to release this evening. We have observed that many unauthorized persons are moving along with team members or travelling in team buses."
Guwahati, Assam: BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia says, "I would like to announce another thing. This time, we have noticed several anomalies and irregularities in the actions of a few franchises as well as some players. Therefore, the BCCI and IPL are preparing an advisory, which… pic.twitter.com/issKcHS7eC
— IANS (@ians_india) May 7, 2026
"Some unauthorized individuals are also entering hotels and visiting players' rooms or team officials' rooms, which is completely against our anti-corruption protocols. We have also noticed that some team owners and officials are mingling with players in areas where they are not permitted to be present."
BCCI and IPL have no problems with families staying in hotels
Previously, it has been reported that there is no issue with wives and family members staying at the hotel with the players, but added that stricter measures may need to be taken regarding girlfriends.
Some of the players' girlfriends are social media influencers, which raises the possibility of team knowledge breaches. Several influencers have previously supported betting or gambling systems, posing integrity issues to IPL matches. The girlfriends sometimes travel separately to visit players, raising the risk of vital team information being disclosed.
Only officially announced girlfriends to stay with players
Previous events, such as Rajasthan Royals staff breaches and player misconduct, have raised the need to control access to restricted areas. The BCCI official expressed surprise after conversing with an Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) officer regarding the present hotel arrangements. The ACU officer claimed that they had been told to allow wives and "officially announced girlfriends" to remain together.
Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh have been struggling with form, and they have been under the scanner due to their lavish personal lifestyle outside of cricket. Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir earlier inducted new rules after a Test series loss in Australia, as the cricketers' wives and children can stay till two weeks on overseas tours longer than 45 days. It will be interesting to see what rules and impications will BCCI introduced before the IPL concludes on 31st May.
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