Kumble likely to be retained as India head coach
The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman has reportedly decided to retain Anil Kumble as head coach of the Indian team. The decision was taken following a meeting of CAC members during India’s match against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday.
While the CAC’s decision is almost as good as final, it will have to be ratified at the June 26 Special General Meeting (SGM) after BCCI acting president CK Khanna requested acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary to defer the process.
It means Kumble will accompany the India team to West Indies. The Board feels it should defer the decision to announce the coach as it would be unwise to do that during the course of a major tournament.
The Board had invited applications for the post of coach as Kumble’s one-year tenure ends with the Champions Trophy. Virender Sehwag, Dodda Ganesh, Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput and Richard Pybus have applied for the post while Kumble has got a direct entry.
India’s loss to Sri Lanka has made the final Group B match against South Africa crucial. If the defending champions lose, they will be out of the tournament. It would put pressure on Kumble as this is his first ICC tournament as India coach. Most of the wins under him have come at home.
When Kumble was brought in last year, it was meant to infuse discipline in the team even though the team had been doing pretty well.
While the CAC has all along backed Kumble, some officials within the BCCI had been seeking a change.
There had been reports of rift between the captain and coach. However, Kohli had criticised the media while denying there was any truth to them.
It also seems Virender Sehwag is not too keen for the job as he sent a two-line application to the BCCI.
The Board had said it was not under any pressure and was just following a process because Kumble’s contract was for one year and it had to be transparent.