Legendary Indian cricketer, Anil Kumble has learned from his various coaching stints that he should “back off and help the players relax”. Kumble resigned as head coach of the Indian team after the 2017 Champions Trophy final due to an alleged rift with the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli though the team did well under his tutelage. He has back to coaching again, this time as director of cricket operations at Kings XI Punjab. He also held mentorship roles at Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians.
Talking to PTI on Wednesday, Kumble said, “With RCB we did not win the title but we came close a couple of times. With Mumbai, we had wonderful success in those three years I was there. It is nice to have the experience of crossing the line. It is all about a game of cricket at the end of it. The moment you start putting importance to result in wins, trophies then it puts more pressure on the players. So the learning is just to back off and help the players relax and when they are relaxed they tend to perform better.”
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KXIp is yet to win the IPL title and Kumble has roped-in to end the title drought. Kumble, who wants to add more experience to the Punjab squad, will soon start strategizing for the IPL auction in December.
Talking about the same, “You learn from the previous experiences you have had as a player, as a coach but IPL is a rollercoaster ride. You need to be patient and then back the players you have. Generally because of certain results you tend to start looking at other teams and that starts influencing your decision and that is the last thing you want.”
Earlier this week, KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia told PTI that the franchise board had a rethink on Ravichandran Ashwin and it has decided to retain him. Ashwin has been leading the franchise for the last two seasons but failed to take them to the play-offs. Kumble said it is not certain that Ashwin will captain the side again.
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The former Indian skipper said, “We have not decided that yet. Some decisions need to be made but we don’t need to decide at this moment. IPL is still five months away. There is an auction coming up, we will start to build a squad around that as well. Ashwin had a wonderful two years but of course we did not get the right results but we have not made any decision who the captain will be.”
Ashwin has also done well for Team India in Tests of late, having made a comeback into the playing eleven in the ongoing home series against South Africa. Besides Ashwin, Punjab boasts of Indian stars such as KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Mohammed Shami. Their foreign recruits include Chris Gayle, Sam Curran, Nicholas Pooran and David Miller.
Talking about the team further, Kumble said, “We have a really good young squad. It needs a little bit of experience. We do have Chris who is the most experienced player in the world. I have not really got into the specifics as I just have taken over. But yes we will be settling down soon and put together a strategy for the way forward. In 12 years the only time they have got close is in 2014 when they lost in the finals. So to win a maiden trophy is the ultimate goal.”
