Anil Kumble, the current head coach of the Indian cricket team, may well continue in his current role till the end of their tour of the West Indies in July, according to various reports on Friday.
India are currently playing in the Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom and will be touring West Indies from June 23 to July 9 after the tournament. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is currently searching for a new coach to replace Kumble with reports of a rift between him and the captain.
The board’s Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising retired legends Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, have been assigned the task of finalising the next coach but it was reported on Thursday that they were keen to continue with Kumble, whom they had picked for the role last year.
PTI quoted CK Khanna, the current acting president of the BCCI, as saying, “I have written a letter to the secretary asking him to defer the recruitment process till June 26 when BCCI’s SGM will be held. At this point in time, it will not be prudent to carry on with the process when India is playing a tournament.”
However, an Indian Express report further clarified Khanna’s comments by quoting an unnamed BCCI official as saying, “BCCI president CK Khanna has suggested that as Champions Trophy is still on, it will be not feasible to take decision on Indian team coach now. The Champions Trophy final will get over on 18th whereas Indian team is leaving for West Indies on 20th. There is no time left at the same time if CAC picks a new coach he may not join Indian team. So it’s better to extend Kumble contract for one more series.”
The Times of India also reported that two out of three members of the CAC were against replacing Kumble. The report quoted an unnamed BCCI official who spoke about the issues facing the committee. “The team has had great performances under Kumble. If the team reaches semi-final or say final, the BCCI would cut a sorry figure if they are forced to replace Kumble. On the other hand, cricket teams are essentially run by captains. One needs to respect a captain’s viewpoint also. It’s a Catch-22 situation for CAC members.”
A report by Mirror stated that captain Kohli will most likely be asked by the CAC to put aside his differences with the coach.
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