New Delhi: Anil Kumble conveyed the decision to BCCI that he can’t continue as the BCCI coach after a meeting with BCCI general secretary Amitabh Chaudhary a little while ago today.
It is a sad day for Indian cricket. Worse than losing on Sunday perhaps.Cricket legend Anil Kumble has decided to step down from the post of Chief Coach of the team. Kumble took over as the Indian coach in June last year and under his guidance India performed impressively in both test and ODI format. However, with reports of rift with captain Virat Kohli out in the public, Kumble’s ouster looked inevitable.
But his stepping down now means that team India which has already reached West Indies will be without any chief coach for the next 20 days.
Has Kumble been made the Fall Guy for India’s dismal performance against Pakistan in the finals of Champion Trophy?
Kumble had maintained all through that ‘there were no problems between him and Virat Kohli, whatsoever. It was only after discussion of inputs from Virat Kohli’s side that were put before Kumle that he finally accepted and apparently told BCCI secretary that ‘he can’t continue from now onwards’.
Just before the start of the Champions Trophy, several stories of Kohli and Kumble falling out came in the press. According to some reports, as many as 10 players were against Kumble continuing as the coach of the Indian team. Kumble’s tenure was till Champions trophy and he had been given an extension for the West Indies tour before the Cricket Advisory Committee decide on the name for the next Indian coach. The Indian team after an impressive start slumped to a massive loss against arch-rival Pakistan in the final. What was note worthy is that many are retrospectively blaming Kohli for taking wrong decision after winning the toss and then not leading from the front when it came to batting.
Is Kumble’s ouster a way of taking away the limelight from Kohli and somehow suggesting that Kumble was to blame??
Harsha Bhogle, veteran Cricket columnist has rued the way Kumble has been treated. Many senior cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Gangulyalso feel the same way.
“Anil Kumble is a man of principles and this unwanted controversy surrounding him hasn’t gone down well with him,” said a BCCI official.
Sehwag the next coach?
With Kumble gone, Sehwag seems to be the front runner for the position.
Apart from Sehwag, Australian Tom Moody, Englishman Richard Pybus, former India cricketer Dodha Ganesh and former India A coach Lal Chand Rajput have also applied for the job. Sehwag applied for the India coach hot-seat after being ‘told’ to do so.
“We had contacted Sehwag during the IPL and asked him to consider applying for the job of India coach,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying earlier.
“The board wants to go through the process of selection of coach again. Also, the next contract is likely to run until the 2019 World Cup, so even the length of the contract has to be taken into consideration before appointing the coach. We don’t want a scenario where the players and the coach are not on the same page,” said the BCCI official.
