One of the most popular cricket commentators in the world, Harsha Bhogle has praised BCCI’s decision to rope in Legendary Anil Kumble as the new head coach for Team India for the next one year.
The Cricket Advisory Committee which comprised of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman has selected Anil Kumble ahead of the likes of Ravi Shastri and Sandeep Patil and Harsha Bhogle is quick to thank Ravi Shastri for his role as Team director which paid dividends over the last one year but was full of praise for Anil Kumble.
“He (Kumble) has never disappointed me as a person. To me, his character shone through, among many occasions, twice. The one in Antigua is well documented where he bowled with a fractured jaw (it was actually moving, that is why it was taped!) but just as much in 2001 when India were preparing to play Australia,” Bhogle said in his Facebook post.
“John Wright was a new coach, Kumble was recovering from surgery (might have had his shoulder in a sling!) but was at the camp throughout to help the team prepare. His relationship with Harbhajan began there. There were rivals at times but whenever Kumble was around, Harbhajan performed better,” Bhogle added.
“I will be watching his relationship with Ashwin closely, especially since Ashwin admitted to us that he grew up idolising him,” he said.
Harsha Bhogle is also quick to point out that the newly appointed coach is a born leader and feels that it would be a whole new ball game under Kumble as he will work with an aggressive Kohli and a calm Dhoni in the upcoming months.
“I have always felt Kumble was a born leader, always willing to wade into a situation. Ganguly often talked about Kumble looking at him, literally asking for the ball, even when he was 0-100 on a flat deck. Now, though, he will be the support staff for it is always the captain’s team. I will be curious to see how he handles this situation,” Bhogle said.
Harsha also feels that there has to be a reason on just one-year contract but feels Kumble will be given a longer period than one year.
“There must be a reason he has only been a given one season in charge as of now. I will be very surprised if this isn’t, eventually, a longer appointment.I don’t think Indian cricket could have asked for a better man to repose trust in,” he said.