Anil Kumble’s Role Has Been Absolutely Impeccable, Says Vinod Rai
Jun 25, 2017 at 12:50 PM
Vinod Rai, head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), lauded Anil Kumble’s tenure as Team India coach which came to a disappointing end this week.
Kumble, who was appointed the coach in June last year and was coaching a national team for the first time, started his spell with an impressive 2-0 Test series win in the West Indies. Under his coaching, Virat Kohli & Co. reached the pinnacle of the ICC Test rankings, after following the series win in West Indies with victories over New Zealand, England, Australia and Bangladesh at home.
In between the mammoth Test season at home, the Men in Blue registered a limited-over series win over New Zealand and England before finishing runners-up in the just-concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2017 as the runners-up.
But Kumble’s magnificent journey with Team India ended on a sad note when he stepped down from his post after being informed about Virat Kohli’s reservations over his style. Kumble’s one-year contract with Team India had ended after the conclusion of the Champions Trophy but he was given an option to extend his tenure for at least one more series.
However, Kumble decided to snap the ties after discovering Kohli’s issues. And Rai, although admitting that there were differences between Kumble and Kohli, said that ‘difference of professional opinion’ is usual if two persons spend so much time together.
“If two persons are thrown together for 24 by 7, there will be difference of professional opinion, so what’s there? His contract was for one year, there were perception, professional issues. He is more mature person, he decided that look, ok, fair enough. It is the captain who has to play on the field isn’t it ultimately,” Rai said after a meeting of COA.
“Kumble’s role has been absolutely impeccable. He has done very well as a coach. We will go in for an equally good professional to ensure that whether it is the captain or manager, there should be cohesion in the team,” he added.
The new coach, meanwhile, is expected to be at the helm before the Sri Lanka series commences next month. The Indian team is currently in West Indies without a coach with general manager M.V. Sridhar assigned the responsibility of supervising the team management.