Kumble's future uncertain after Kohli's feedback

[Kool_SRG]

India's campaign for Champions Trophy has begun under a cloud of discontent within the dressing room with the captain, and possibly a few other senior players, expressing a lack of confidence in their head coach.

Speculation had been rife ever since the BCCI chose not to automatically extend the tenure of Anil Kumble as the head coach, choosing instead to advertise the position, and it has now emerged that the decision was made following feedback from Virat Kohli about Kumble's coaching method, which he is said to have described as "intimidating".

Kumble's year-long contract expires at the end of the Champions Trophy. The development comes at less than an ideal time for India, with their first match in the Champions Trophy, against arch rivals Pakistan, just days away.

It is understood that Kohli relayed the sense of discontent to the BCCI's top office bearers as well as the Committee of Administrators (CoA) before the team left for England. He is also understood to have spoken to Sourav Ganguly, who is part of the cricket advisory panel which has been tasked with deciding the coaching option.

The players' concerns are thought to centre mainly around Kumble's man-management skills. In the words of one official familiar with the details, Kumble has been conducting himself like a "headmaster" at a school. Such an approach, the official said, "had not gone down well" with the players who are used to a more relaxed dressing room. Some players - not the bigger personalities like Kohli or MS Dhoni - have felt "a bit intimidated" by Kumble's approach.

Such has been the approach, the official said, that some of the injuries that have ruled players out during Kumble's tenure were not strictly cricket related. "Kumble was pushing hard. The bulk of them [injuries] are non-cricketing injuries. One of the players was stressed out. So the team is not a happy lot."

What has surprised the BCCI is that Kumble has failed to read these concerns. The official said that the reason Kumble has been successful was because "the team has been successful" playing cricket mostly at home. "The way the cricket set-up works in India is the coach is not the king. So the coach has to understand that."

Based on the player feedback, the BCCI decided that the time to "change" had come and the "best" way to move forward was to put in place an advertisement inviting fresh applications. The official admitted that the timing was not ideal - the advertisement went out on the day Indian squad arrived in London to defend the Champions Trophy, and applications for the job close on the eve of the tournament opener - but he said the process had to followed.

The most telling public comments came from Kohli, who said last week he did not find anything untoward with what the BCCI was doing. "The process has been followed every single time the similar way in Indian cricket for the past so many years is what I know," Kohli said at his first media briefing upon landing in England. "Even the last time the post was up for a change the same procedure was applied. With the term being one year, the procedure is being followed in the same manner. I don't see anything very different from what has happened in the past. That is something the board has recognised. They want to follow the same pattern."

Kohli was equivocal in his response to the success India have had under Kumble. "When you have results come your way, the contribution is from every part of the team," he said. "It is not from a single source to say the least. Everyone works hard equally if not more than the other person."

Kumble has not yet spoken publicly about the situation. He is, however, bound to be disappointed considering India have only lost one series in any format under his charge: the two-match Twenty20 series in Florida against West Indies last August. Kumble has also been front and centre in talks with the BCCI over enhancing the contracts not just of the national team's players but also domestic players and Indian coaching staff.

The situation also puts three other Indian legends in an awkward position. It was only last June that Kumble was nominated by the three-man cricket advisory panel comprising his contemporaries, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman; Kumble wasn't in the original shortlist of candidates the BCCI had finalised because he had no formal coaching experience. But it was at the panel's insistence that he was put in. And now they have to go through the process again; it isn't yet known if Kumble will go through the process again. Ganguly is currently in England, doing television commentary for the official broadcaster of the Champions Trophy.

At the time of Kumble's appointment, the BCCI made out the contract for only a year saying that would give Kumble time to prove his coaching credentials. The former BCCI president Anurag Thakur had said that a review would be carried out after one year. Incidentally, Ajay Shirke, who was the BCCI secretary last June, had said that when the review was done, Kumble should find himself in the "driver's seat" considering India were playing a long home season comprising 13 Tests and a couple of ODI series. Kumble might not be holding the steering wheel anymore.

[Kool_SRG]

Rift between Kumble and Indian players: Reports

India haven't lost a series since Anil Kumble's appointment as head coach

 

 

All is not well in the India camp. They maybe running high and aiming higher following a stunning season, during which they won 13 Tests and lost just one and made the number ranking their own, and have also made a strong statement in their two warm-ups ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, but multiple reports have stated that there is trouble brewing inside the dressing room arising from a rift between coach Anil Kumble and the players of the Indian team.

The news comes at a time when India is preparing to take on Pakistan in its opening match of the Champions Trophy on June 4. Indian cricket's Big Three - BCCI's advisory panel of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman - will now be expected to broker peace between Kumble and Kohli's men. The advisory committee has been entrusted with the job of naming the next India coach. Kumble was considered the front-runner for an extension till the 2019 World Cup, with Team India having won everything under him in the past one year.

Times of India reported that Kumble being a 'hard task-master' had not gone down well with the seniors of the Indian team. It added that Vinod Rai, chairman of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), was likely to meet the three-member panel to discuss the issue. It added that a certain section of BCCI was in favour of extending Kumble's contract earlier, but a board functionary told them that Kohli was not comfortable with the idea of working with Kumble on a long-term basis.

Kumble's contract as India coach will come to an end after the Champions Trophy and the board recently sent out a media release inviting applications for the position.

"With the CoA not involved in the day-to-day working of the team, the responsibility of naming the new head coach is entrusted to the three-member panel. Neither the CoA nor the board officials will be part of this process," ToI quoted a source as saying.

Another national, The Hindu, too reported of the rift between Kohli and Kumble.

"Kohli, India captain across all formats, is believed to have told those running day-to-day cricketing affairs in India that all is not well with the team and the former India captain," The Hindu reported.

NDTV, however, reported that there was no rift within the camp, but there has just been a difference of opinion at some stage.

[Kool_SRG]

[lazybugger]

I thought he was good.

same chappell - ganguly repeat aa?

[HyperAdi]

climax dorikesindi.. time for kumble documentary 

[Kool_SRG]

1 minute ago, HyperAdi said:

climax dorikesindi.. time for kumble documentary 

[Kool_SRG]

1 minute ago, lazybugger said:

I thought he was good.

same chappell - ganguly repeat aa?

Kumble is the best available now... Hope he continues, he will have full backing of Sachin, Ganguly & VVS (All 3 part of Committee formed to Pick the coach)

[JANASENA]

Just now, Kool_SRG said:

Kumble is the best available now... Hope he continues, he will have full backing of Sachin, Ganguly & VVS (All 3 part of Committee formed to Pick the coach)

Dravid

[Kool_SRG]

Just now, JANASENA said:

Dravid

I won't say that...Dravid is close but Kumble is the best bet.

[BaabuBangaram]

1 minute ago, JANASENA said:

Dravid

Dravid nly for under 19

[lazybugger]

2 minutes ago, Kool_SRG said:

Kumble is the best available now... Hope he continues, he will have full backing of Sachin, Ganguly & VVS (All 3 part of Committee formed to Pick the coach)

how can he continue if captain doesn't like him.

its impossible no.

[lazybugger]

Lets retain Kumble as coach, and make Rahane as captain. hehe..

2 birds, one stone

[Kool_SRG]

3 minutes ago, lazybugger said:

Lets retain Kumble as coach, and make Rahane as captain. hehe..

2 birds, one stone

Mee vodu captain kaadu kada ide form continue avite XI lo kadu ga squad lo place prasnardhakam ga tayaravutundi...

[argadorn]

5 minutes ago, Kool_SRG said:

Mee vodu captain kaadu kada ide form continue avite XI lo kadu ga squad lo place prasnardhakam ga tayaravutundi...

rahane team lo 90 percent undadu...

[argadorn]

11 minutes ago, lazybugger said:

how can he continue if captain doesn't like him.

its impossible no.

thats true..dravid kumble ekuva amatladaru valla role vallu play chetsharu ...veelaki head master laga anipisthundhi emo ...sollu jokes veyali but kohli thondarga decisions theskuntadu stupid felow.