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.
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.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
Few days after I wrote this article Sourav Ganguly says exactly what I said. BCCI should have handled the rift better. It was sad that Sourav learnt about this problem through a television host instead of BCCI informing him and the other two members of the CAC.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
BCCI is the richest board because it is governed by successful business men. They know how to make money and probably have least knowledge on cricket. The best thing BCCI did was to form the CAC with Sourav, Sachin and Laxman but I am not sure how much of an authority they actually have. BCCI should let these three handle the cricketing part of the management and just concentrate on the financial aspect themselves.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
India last played without a coach for few games was in 2011 after Gary Kirsten decided not to extend his contract after the world cup. Before that in 2007 when the infamous Greg Chappell incident happened, India toured England and Ireland without a coach and won both the series.
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
I did not say Kohli is the villain. I said the entire episode was handled poorly by BCCI and Virat himself. Kumble is the legend of the game and I am not saying he cannot be wrong but there are ways to deal with it. Leaking news to the media is not the way to do it. Virat for his part might have done the right thing by speaking to BCCI but again there has been no evidence of him approaching Anil himself and expressing his concern. Neither he or BCCI have told anything to that effect.
Rats
Guest
How many matches/series have India played in the last 3 years without a coach! And they are the richest cricket body ..
amreeka
Guest
everyone simply taking kohli as a villian without even knowing his side, after all he is the showman of indian cricket and he has the every right to have his say as a captain to a team with a billion plus ardent fans
Giri Subramanian
Roar Guru
BCCI never handles tough situations well. It is not the matter of who is right, it is the way the entire episode has been handled. It has been an overall process breakdown and has put both Kohli and Kumble in an awkward position.
Johnno
Guest
Bad move this. A victory for player power in the wrong way. The BCCI should have backed Kumble not Kholi. As it sets a precedent that the star player has more bargaining power than the coach and other teammates, it's sets bad precedents.