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Anil Kumble’s resignation asks questions of BCCI’s management

Virat Kohli and his attitude are key to India's success. (AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)
Roar Guru
25th June, 2017
8

In a sudden turn of events, Anil Kumble last week announced his resignation as Indian head coach.

The announcement came on the heels of reports of a rift between the team’s captain, Virat Kohli, and Kumble.

The BCCI advertising for the coaching position ahead of the Champions Trophy final was a badly planned move, with reports of the rift leaking to the media making the situation awkward for both the coach and the captain during the tournament.

Anil Kumble is a legend of Indian cricket and his appointment was overseen by the newly formed Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. While the media reported the alleged rift, the CAC members seemed to be completely unaware of the situation.

Ganguly was on a talk show of the news channel that actually first reported the rift and said he was unaware of such an occurrence. This begs the question as to how the entire episode was handled by the BCCI and what exactly the role of the CAC is.

When Kohli expressed concerns over the coach’s method there seemed to be no mediation attempt by the board members. Kohli himself did not seem to have discussed or expressed his concerns to the coach personally.

The BCCI have a history of bad management in the past and no one can forget the drama that unfolded between the former Ganguly and former Indian coach Greg Chappell. The exit of Chappell was one of the most infamous occurrences in Indian cricket.

The BCCI has repeated the mistake by not taking immediate action and not trying to diffuse the tension. The BCCI also need to determine how such a sensitive team information was leaked to the media even before the person involved was informed.

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Kumble’s resignation also asks questions of Kohli’s personality and his ability to work with an authority above him. The candidates who have applied for the national coaching role might be worried after seeing what happened to Kumble.

Kumble is a prominent figure in Indian cricket history and he deserved to be treated better by both the captain and the board. The CAC were silent spectators to this entire episode and it seems like the system has failed Kumble. I hope Anil remains involved with Indian cricket as he is a brilliant administrator.

I hope the BCCI gets their act together and speaks to Virat and the team to understand what exactly went wrong and make sure it is not repeated again.

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