Virat Kohli led India have been doing well across formats. However, a rift with former India coach Anil Kumble and captain Kohli makes some of the fans unhappy. As Sourav Ganguly took charge of the BCCI on Wednesday, Vinod Rai, the chief of Committee of Administrators (CoA) explained how new BCCI president would have dealt with the situation if the incident had happened today.
“There was so much controversy. Who could have handled it better? If this had happened today, Sourav would have thrust Kumble down Virat’s throat. But it could have created more tensions. I respected Kumble because he walked out,” Vinod Rai said in an interview to Hindustan Times.
Anil Kumble quit after a rift with Kohli came in front in June 2017 and the BCCI has denied any division in the camp as well. Current India coach Ravi Shastri replaced him who has a warm relationship with Kohli.
Rai said: “If you don’t give a free hand to coach and captain, who do you give it to? Since I was not equipped to sit in judgement over Kohli and Shastri, I didn’t allow others (including Diana) to interfere. I kept them away. I would do the same again.”
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In December 2018, Diana Edulji had written to Vinod Rai, saying that Kohli wants a change in the coach. Calling Anil Kumble the “best coach available”, Rai said if it was possible to extend Kumble’s tenure, he would have done that.
“If his contract had an extension clause, I would have extended it. I have too much respect and regard for Kumble. But since there was no extension clause and since I wasn’t equipped to decide, we fell back on CAC. We inherited the CAC, not created it,” he said.
“I had a long chat with Sachin then and Sourav now. I met Sachin in Birmingham during the Champions Trophy-they were meeting Kumble and Virat-and I told Sachin I had a long chat with Virat. I barely knew Virat then,” he added.
“Sourav told me recently that they had a long chat with him. If they couldn’t persuade him how could I? Look, if there is a difference in the dressing room between captain and coach, who is more dispensable? Obviously, the coach. That’s where we got caught,” Rai further said.
However, Sourav Ganguly has taken the charge recently and expected to do well.
