Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has refused to conclude anything without the proper picture of the Anil Kumble- Virat Kohli spat. When asked about his opinion on Kumble’s “untenable” remark as his reason for stepping down as India coach, Ganguly said that he was not interested in making any sweeping comments.
“They are senior people, both of them have played enough cricket. We don’t deal with all that. It’s between them, I don’t know what happened. I am not part of the dressing room. All I know is that he didn’t want to continue and we will have to see the way forward,” Ganguly told reporters here.
Ganguly along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman is a part of the three-member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) responsible for selecting India’s coach. The trio along with the BCCI tried everything in their capability to sort the issues between Kumble and Kohli. However, things did not work out well.
Just before India’s tour of the West Indies, Kumble resigned and later highlighted in his open letter that his working partnership Virat Kohli was “untenable” and that stepping down as the coach was the best thing to do.
Ganguly, who is also Cricket Association of Bengal’s president, was quizzed about the dressing room culture of the current Indian team but he did not divulge much.
“It’s a tough question for me to answer. As I said it’s Anil’s decision. I don’t know the details. I don’t whether Virat asked him to leave. I cannot say anything more about it.”
Ganguly said he is leaving for Mumbai on Monday to attend BCCI Special General Meeting.
“I’m going to Mumbai on Monday.”
After the revelation of the controversy brewing between Kumble and Kohli, the BCCI announced that the applications for the role of a new head coach which further indicated that Kumble was not supposed to get an extension after the expiry of his original contract which was till the Champions Trophy 2017.
It was although not completely ruled out that Kumble would not be considered at the time of the application reviews. BCCI kept all doors open hoping the matter would be resolved.
But, after Kumble stepped down, there was no question of him being a contender. The latest news is that the BCCI has extended the deadline for applications till July 9 citing dissatisfaction over the current participants.
“The team is playing now. So there would be too many things. I don’t whether they have extended the time limit or not. Let’s see,” said Ganguly.