Condemning the Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble rift which led to the latter stepping down as head coach of Team India, former India batsman Lalchand Rajput has said it is not a ‘good sign’.
Rajput is one of the five candidates who had applied for the coach’s post after the BCCI advertised for it last month. The advertisement from the India board had come on the back of reports suggesting a rift between Kohli and Kumble during the buildup of the Champions Trophy.
And although Kohli managed to shift the focus to cricket by rubbishing the reports, the whole matter came to the surface when Kumble resigned and released a statement, revealing the reason behind his shocking decision. The former India skipper said that he decided to walk away after being informed of Kohli’s reservations over his style. Since then, Kohli has received widespread criticism and Rajput too feels that Kumble’s unceremonious departure is not a good sign.
“It’s not a good sign. It doesn’t augur well because Anil Kumble has played so much cricket and given yeoman service,” Rajput told PTI.
Rajput further declined to say anything on the issue which has kept people guessing right from the day Kumble stepped down.
“We actually don’t know what has happened, so it is wrong on my part to comment on that aspect. Whatever has happened, it has not gone well for Anil Kumble,” Rajput said.
Kohli, meanwhile, refused to lift the lid on his side of the story. Speaking ahead of the series-opener against West Indies, Kohli had said he would never reveal the details of the dressing room.
Rajput said he had enough coaching credentials to fill the post vacated by Kumble.
“As a coach, you have to go through certain qualifications. And I have passed those because level three was the highest grade (in my time) and I was the first in India to achieve it,” he explained.
The 55-year-old former Test opener, who was the cricket manager of the Indian team when they won the inaugural World T20 Championships in South Africa in 2007, has done a brilliant job as Afghanistan coach in the last one year. He also enjoyed successful coaching stints with the India under-19 and A teams and was with Mumbai Indians in the first season of the IPL in 2008.
“If you play 100 Test matches, that does not mean you become a good coach. Coaching and playing cricket are totally different. If you look at South Africa, England and Australia, their coaches need to have minimum coaching qualifications,” he added.
“I feel that BCCI should also look at the coaching aspect of a candidate. That is what the coach brings to the table,” said the player who represented India in 2 Tests.
Speaking further on his credentials, Rajput added:
“My record says I have done well. Then I was given the (India) A team and in all the four tours I have done well. Then I was given U-19 and we have won all the five overseas tours.
“Now I am the head coach with the Afghanistan team for the last one year and you see their progress. We have won most of the series. We are doing exceptionally well. That means I have the coaching credentials. Whichever assignment I had been given, I have done exceptionally well,” Rajput noted.
Rajput also feels that BCCI advertising for the coach’s post is not right. Previously, Rajput along with Tom Moody, Dodda Ganesh, Richard Pybus and Virender Sehwag had applied for the post. But with Kumble’s sudden resignation, the BCCI has now invited more applications to give the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) a wider range of options.
“It’s not right, they had given a deadline, that you should apply before it. It’s not fair asking again for applications once you give a deadline,” Rajput said.