The Board of Control for Cricket in India will ask for an explanation from players for reporting late at the team hotel prior to the squad's departure to Zimbabwe and has decided to crack the whip on latecomers in future.
"We have asked for a report from the team manager for the tour [Amitabh Choudhary] about the arrival time of players to the hotel. The players had been specifically asked to check in before noon on Monday," BCCI secretary S K Nair said on Thursday.
"After receiving the report from the manager, we would write to the concerned players asking for their explanation and verify whether it was because of some genuine reason or due to casual attitude. I would meet the concerned players personally when the team returns from Zimbabwe and explain to them about the Board's concerns on such matters."
"In future we have decided to take action against players who do not adhere to our instructions," he said.
Nair explained that since the team is on a tour, no punitive action would be taken even if an explanation did not satisfy the Board.
The Board secretary is currently in Dubai to attend the two-day meeting of the Scheduling Summit of the International Cricket Council.
The national squad had assembled at a five-star hotel near the Mumbai international airport, but a few players including skipper Sourav Ganguly, who reached the hotel at 9.40 pm, did not adhere to the check in deadline given by the Board.
Ganguly's late arrival, apart from that of Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and local man Ajit Agarkar angered coach Greg Chappell who was also displeased at the way the Board had gone about organising the media conference at the hotel.
An upset Chappell directed part of his ire at mediapersons, specially at the lack of discipline shown by still photographers who went on clicking much after they were asked to stop.
The former Australian captain was also irate that his plans for a team meeting prior to departure went for a toss following the no-show of some big guns.
Chappell and Ganguly addressed the media separately though they were scheduled to do it jointly as per the original programme.
It has now been reliably learnt that Chappell gave a piece of his mind, in the presence of hotel staffers, to a Board official about the mess-up.
