In the build-up to the 1st Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur, a controversy over the diet plan for the players came out as they were allegedly only allowed to eat ‘halal’ meat. It soon became a topic of debate and BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has broken his silence regarding the matter.
According to the rumours, the players were directed to not eat beef and pork in any manner and other forms of meat could only be ‘halal’. This became a cause for outrage. Dhumal said that the BCCI has no role to play in the matter as food choices are an individual’s preference.
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“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 said while speaking to India Today.
“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.
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“The BCCI doesn’t advise any of its players what to eat and what not to eat. Players are free to choose their own food. Whether they want to be vegetarian, it’s their choice, whether they want to be vegan, it’s their choice, whether they want to be non-vegetarian, it’s their choice,” he went on to say.