After taking an unassailable 4-0 lead in the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, Team India opener Rohit Sharma and captain Virat Kohli joined hands for an interview where the captain across formats thanked everyone for the team’s success in the recent past.
However, what surprised everyone was that he didn’t mention the name of former Indian coach Anil Kumble whose unceremonious exit after the Champions Trophy had raised a lot of question on Kohli.
It might be noted here that the ex India coach apparently didn’t have a great relationship with Kohli. As per the reports, the coach-captain duo stopped talking to each other since the series against England earlier in the year. Kumble in his note following his resignation wrote that he was told by the BCCI very recently that the captain had reservations with his coaching style and in the best interest of the team he feels to leave his role with heads held high.
Reports had also emerged that the former coach had asked the captain to bat first after winning the toss in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan. Kohli went against it, and India lost by a huge margin to surrender their title. Kohli decided to remain silent on that matter and said that it is Kumble’s personal decision to resign and he respects that.
“The support staff’s contribution is massive. I was given the captaincy in 2014 end against Australia and how we were number 7 then and how we are number 1 under the same group of people. They are very special to the team, and they gel well with the boys. All the way down to Raghu, who’s the main reason why all of us have been able to take our batting to the next level. He and Sanjay Bangar have worked relentlessly. And Sridhar fielding wise, Arun paaji with the bowlers, Ravi bhai giving the guys confidence and just unlocking their games in a way that I haven’t seen many people do before. His way of motivating people is in another dimension. We really enjoy working with them, it’s like a big family, and we’re really really happy in each other’s company,” Kohli said during the mock interview.