In what will go down as a sad day for Indian cricket, Indian legend and head coach of Indian cricket team Anil Kumble decided to step down from his position yesterday after his relationship with Virat Kohli had become ‘untenable’.
The veteran leggie under whose guidance India has performed exceptionally well in the last year or so announced his sudden resignation on twitter after reports had come that Virat Kohli along with other members in the team were not happy with his style of functioning.
His sudden decision to resign didn’t go well with former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar who came down heavily on the reports and slammed people responsible for Kumble’s sudden exit.
“So you want softies. You want somebody to just tell you, ‘ok boys, don’t practice today because you guys are not feeling well, ok take a holiday, go shopping’. You want that kind of a person. If somebody is a hard taskmaster and he has got you results like Anil Kumble has got over the last one year. If any of the players are complaining, I feel those players are the ones who should be left out of the team,” Sunil was quoted saying by NDTV.
He further added that Kumble was a ‘hard task master’ and that eventually led to his feud with Virat Kohli and company. He said,
“Because honestly, what Anil Kumble has achieved for India as a player and what he has achieved for India over the last one year, has been nothing short of phenomenal. So I would rather not have Anil Kumble being maligned or being bad-mouthed as a hard taskmaster or his headmasterly approach for what I have been reading in the papers.But what this is sending a signal for the next coach is either bow down to what the players want you to do, otherwise you, like one of India’s cricket legends Anil Kumble, you will have to step down and that is a sad, sad, sad message.”
When asked who he think should replace Kumble he said,
“I don’t know who will fill his shoes. Maybe for the moment in the West Indies, you will just have somebody like a Sanjay Bangar who is very well respected in the team to take over because it is a short trip but before India goes to Sri Lanka, the coach has to be appointed. It could well be Sanjay Bangar again, although he has not thrown his hat in the ring. Because he has got the experience of coaching. It is for the CAC to take a call on that.”
