In the end of the Captain-Coach saga, it was the Indian skipper Virat Kohli who had his say, as Anil Kumble resigned from the post, within a year.
Though his contract came to end, but he was already given an extension from BCCI for one more series, which he denied and did not fly with the team to West Indies. On the same day, he announced his decision to step down from the post and later he issued a thank you letter, where he cited the tenable relation with Virat Kohli as the reason for quitting the job.
It clearly means that it is Indian skipper Virat Kohli who decides who should be into the team and who should be dropped, whether he is a player or any member of the backroom staff,
“It’s clear that whosoever is close to Kohli will survive the heat and that includes the assistant coach Sanjay Bangar, ” a BCCI official told TOI.
The message is clear, be alongside the captain and be then be with the team or else leave. But is Virat now a free bird? No.
As per the reports, dropping Anil Kumble has come with a price to Virat Kohli as the board has now delivered a message to the India skipper that he has to emulate the success and glory which Indian team achieved in the Kumble era, where the side won 13 of the 17 Test matches with the only loss coming against Australia at Pune,
“It has been given to understand that Kohli eventually had the veto power on the coach issue which pushed Kumble out of the team. Now that he has his way, he has to deliver as captain. Otherwise, he had it,” the official added.
Surely, the pressure will be on Kohli because apart from sidelining Kumble, the captain is all set to have a major say in appointment of the new coach as well and with the board agreeing to many of Kohli’s demands, he has to deliver or else, we might see one of the best players failing to become the best captain in world cricket.
Meanwhile, the Indian team has reached West Indies without any Head Coach to take part in the limited-overs series, where, any fumble will result in Kohli being blamed for it. As per reports, there is a competition between Virender Sehwag and Ravi Shastri for the post. Though Shastri hasn’t applied for the job, but sources have revealed that BCCI has asked the former Indian all-rounder to apply for it, so as they can consider him for the job.