Anil Kumble, former Indian captain and head coach created a massive furore, resigned on Tuesday as in his words his position had become “untenable”.
India are now in the Caribbean to play a limited-overs against hosts West Indies, with the first ODI set for Friday.
That series was played concurrently with the Champions Trophy, serving to highlight the steep decline of the former winners who failed for the first time in 42 years to qualify for a major International Cricket Council event.
Speaking ahead of India’s opening ODI against West Indies, Kohli also hinted at his disapproval of Kumble’s statement by saying, “Obviously, Anil bhai has expressed his views and he’s taken the decision to step out and we will respect that decision”.
Kumble said there should be incentive for players and a World Cup win should fetch each players Rs 2 crore, while the success in the Champions Trophy and World Twnety20 should merit Rs 1crore each for a player. That is what the whole team believes in.
Since Duncan Fletcher left in March 2015, India, now the world’s top Test team, have struggled for stability with Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Bangar both taking on temporary roles before Kumble’s reign.
For nearly a month, ever since news broke that there would be no perfunctory renewal of his contract, Anil Kumble had been a man walking the plank.
Kohli, now leading India’s West Indies tour, said on Thursday that dressing room matters should be “sacred and private”. “Now, only motivation can make them retain their game at the top level”, he reasons and adds, “If the captain does not need a player like Kumble, BCCI should ask Kohli, which coach would he prefer?”
We hope that BCCI’s decision will be in the interest of the Indian cricket team. The ODI series will be followed by a one-off T20 global game. “We should only have a manager for the administrative work”, says the 68-year-old, who acted as a team manager in 1990s. It’s a captain who has to play on the field, isn’t it, ultimately? If anyone owes the cricket-watching public an explanation, it’s the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has looked increasingly rudderless since the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrator took the reins.
Earlier in May, the PCB had sent a legal notice to its Indian counterpart for failing to honour the MoU signed between the two cricket boards in 2014.