Vinod Rai reveals Virat Kohli’s opinion on Anil Kumble during the latter’s tenure as team India’s head coach
Kumble-Kohli (image source : BCCI)
In recent years, one of the biggest controversies in Indian cricket was the rift between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble. During Kumble’s tenure as the head coach of India, Virat Kohli was captaining the national cricket team of India. But it appeared that the two legends from the two different eras of the sport had a frosty relationship. After Anil Kumble stepped down from the post of India’s Head Coach in 2017, he termed his partnership with Kohli as ‘untenable.’
Vinod Rai was the head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) during that time. He has recently thrown light on the incident. In his book ‘Not just a Nightwatchman- My innings in the BCCI’, he wrote – “In my conversations with the captain and team management, it was conveyed that Kumble was too much of a disciplinarian, and hence the team members were not too happy with him. I had spoken to Virat Kohli on the issue, and he did mention that the younger members of the team felt intimated by the way he worked with them.”
Rai also recollected his long conversation with Anil Kumble. He said that the former Indian leg-spinner felt that he was treated unfairly and was visibly upset by how the whole incident went.
“He felt that he had been unfairly treated and a captain or team should not be given so much importance. It was the duty of the coach to bring discipline and professionalism into the team and as a senior, his views should have been respected by the players.” Rai was quoted from excerpts published by The Indian Express
At the time, BCCI had appointed a Cricket Advisory Committee, which had Indian legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman in it. The committee spoke with both Kumble and Kohli on the issue during the 2017 Champions Trophy in England. After discussions with both the parties involved, the committee recommended the reappointment of Kumble as the Head Coach, but still he decided to step down from the post.
As per Rai, Kumble before resigning mentioned that – “Captain has reservations about my ‘style’ and my continuing as Head Coach.”
The revelations by Rai on one of the biggest controversies of Indian cricket in recent times have given new fire to the incident.
