Legendary Indian spinner, Anil Kumble said he has no regrets of his stick as the head coach of Team India despite the way it ended which he feels ‘could have been better’. He had decided to step down as the Indian head coach after India’s Champions Trophy campaign in 2017, as he was having some tiff with the skipper, Virat Kohli. Kumble and Kohli reportedly had differences in their opinions for quite some time even though Virat never accepted having any rift before the Champions Trophy opener against Pakistan.
In a statement after his resignation in June 2017, Kumble has revealed that Kohli had ‘reservations with his ‘style’ and he had decided it was best to move on. Talking about the same during an Instagram live session with Pommie Mbangwa, Kumble said, “I was very happy that I took up that role [India coach]. It was great, the one year I spent with the Indian team was really fantastic.”
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He further added, “Having been with great performers and again being a part of the Indian dressing room is a great feeling. I was really happy that there were some contributions made and there are no regrets. I was happy moving on from there as well. I know the end could have been better but then that’s fine. As a coach, you realize, when it’s time to move on, it’s the coach who needs to move on.”
Kumble also went on to reveal that he was looking for a break from working with Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 3 years in order to be with his family. He had said he had received the green signal from his family to take up the India coach job when he applied for the position in 2016.
Recalling the same, Anil Kumble said, “When I returned I saw an ad calling for the coach for the Indian team. I then sort of asked around the family, I asked my wife what she thought. She said ‘yeah, give it a go.’. I said ‘see it means back to playing days, probably worse off because you tend to travel a lot more’. She said ‘it’s fine, you carry on. Apply, there is no harm in applying’. I got that job.”
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Kumble can be seen back to the coaching duties if and when IPL 2020 gets underway later this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. KXIP appointed him as the head coach ahead of the 13th edition of the IPL
