Anil Kumble on Tuesday stepped down as Team India coach. His decision came just four days before India’s limited-overs tour of West Indies, which begins on June 23. India is slated to play five ODIs and one T20 in the Caribbean.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has confirmed the news and said that though “the Cricket Advisory Committee had endorsed an extension to his tenure as Head Coach, Anil Kumble has decided not to continue as the coach”.
Kumble’s one-year contract ended at the end of the Champions Trophy on Sunday, where India lost to Pakistan by 180 runs.
Kumble was expected to remain the Team India coach for the tour of West Indies, while the board and the Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, decided who the next India coach would be. However, his contract ended on Tuesday.
The BCCI had invited candidates to apply the post of Team India coach last month. The BCCI had received six applications including that of Kumble in the fresh interview process. Kumble had also been given the option to extend his one-year stint with the Indian team by CoA chief Vinod Rai a few weeks ago, reported The Indian Express.
BCCI officials had implied they were unhappy with Kumble’s role in players’ pay negotiation just before the IPL final. Anil Kumble had spoken to the Committee of Administrators and had asked for a 150% hike to retain the Grade A players. Kumble, whose present salary is around Rs 6.25 crore, had also demanded Rs 7.5 crore per annum.
Rumours of a Kohli-Kumble rift
There have been rumours of a rift between Kumble and team captain Virat Kohli. There was hardly any communication between the two during the Champions Trophy, The Times of India reported. The coach was said to have mostly kept to himself or helped the bowlers practise.
Reports also said that some players, including Kohli, had said they were uncomfortable with Kumble’s intimidating style of management.
The captain had apparently met the BCCI top officials in London on Monday, before he had left for the Caribbean. BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary, board chief executive officer Rahul Johri and MV Sridhar, general manager of cricket operations had also attended the meeting. The meeting was necessitated after the CAC told the BCCI that it had failed to resolve the issues between Kohli and Kumble, reported ESPNCricinfo. The CAC had asked the BCCI to take the negotiations process forward. Last year, the CAC had recommended and shortlisted Kumble as the final choice for the position.
Kumble has stayed back in London after the Champion’s Trophy, where he is currently attending the chief executives committee meeting being the chairman of the ICC’s cricket committee.
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