India, March 19 -- World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev on Tuesday backed the idea of families travelling with cricketers on tours but called for a "balanced approach" in dealing with the issue that has divided opinion.

Kapil's comments come days after Virat Kohli expressed his disappointment over BCCI's diktat on curtailing family visits on tours lasting more than 45 days, allowing a maximum of 14 days of family time. For shorter tours, players could bring their families for a maximum of one week.

BCCI's directives came in the wake of India's whitewash at home at the hands of New Zealand and a 1-3 humbling in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. At the recently-concluded Champions Trophy, the players' families who travelled to Dubai did not stay in the team hotel and their expenses were borne by the players, not BCCI.

"Well, I don't know, that's individual. I think it's the cricket board's call," said the 1983 World Cup-winning captain, speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the third edition of Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational tournament.

"My view is, yes, you need family. But you also need a team, all the time. You need to have a balanced approach," he said.

"In our time, we used to say to ourselves - not by the cricket board - that the first half of the tour should be cricket, and in the second half, the family should come and enjoy it too. It should be a blend," Kapil, who is also the president of Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), added.

Earlier, Kohli, speaking at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit recently, admitted to being disappointed at the rule being implemented and families being blamed for players' poor performances.

"It's very difficult to explain to people how grounding it is to just come back to your family every time you have something which is intense, which happens on the outside," he said. "I don't think people have an understanding of what value it brings to a large extent. And I feel quite disappointed about that because it's like people who have no control over what's going on are kind of brought into conversations and put out at the forefront that, 'oh, maybe they need to be kept away'."

Golf with a Touch of T20

The third edition of the Kapil Dev Grant Thornton Invitational is set to incorporate a "touch of T20 cricket," as stated by Kapil. The tournament will take place at Bengaluru's Prestige Golfshire from April 23 to April 26, featuring a total of 72 participants, comprising both professionals and amateurs.

This event will adopt a mixed format, allowing both male and female golfers to compete. Among the 72 entrants, 60 will be male players, while 12 will be female, including eight professionals. Of the male participants, 40 will be professionals.

"Our tournament director will ensure that the course is equitable for both men and women. The female golfers will play approximately 6000-6200 yards, while the male golfers will compete over 7000 yards," stated Amandeep Johl, CEO of PGTI.

The tournament will commence with a practice round on April 23, followed by a three-day, 54-hole championship where 60 male and 12 female professionals will vie for a total prize purse of Rs. 2 crore.

Additionally, the event will include three Pro-Am rounds in a rotational format, with 48 professionals teeing off in the morning and the remaining 24 pairing with amateurs in the afternoon.

"It's a very engaging format. We aimed to infuse some T20-style excitement to attract interest," Kapil remarked.

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