10 members of team India don’t want veteran leggie Kumble as coach anymore
NEW DELHI : Anil Kumble might have got an automatic entry in the race for India’s coaching role, but as far as the Indian dressing room is concerned, the players don’t want the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to hand him a contract extension.
According to a report in DNA, ten members of the Indian team do not want an extension for Kumble, who is “too bossy” according to them. The report added players were unhappy with Kumble for “imposing strict standard of inhuman approach while tackling fatigue and injury”.
Notably, after replacing Ravi Shastri as the coach of the Indian team in July last year ahead of an overseas tour to West Indies, Indian cricket team won everything that was up for grabs under the guidance of the legendary leggie. Keeping the victories in mind, Kumble’s contract, which comes to an end after ICC Champions Trophy, was set to be extended till the 2019 World Cup. But that wasn’t the case as BCCI recently invited fresh applications for the post of Indian coach.
A rift was reported between Kumble and skipper Virat Kohli, after the former was reported to have leaked confidential conversation with members of Indian team to his friends in media.BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and GM, Cricket, MV Sridhar had interacted with the players. Former skipper Sourav Ganguly, who is a key member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), also had a meeting with the Indian team separately last week.
The three-member CAC panel comprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman will interview the candidates in London. Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag, former Australian fast bowler and Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody, Englishman Richard Pybus, former Indian cricketers Dodda Ganesh and Lalchand Rajput are some of the candidates to have applied for the job.
The DNA report added that even though the interviews were likely to be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, it might be rescheduled as legendary troika have different travel schedules during ICC Champions Trophy.
