Kumble won’t ask team to curb aggression in Ranchi

India coach Anil Kumble said it was ‘mature’ of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to withdraw the complaint against Australia captain Steve Smith and allow the focus to shift back on what has been a highly intense series.

Speaking during the first media interaction ahead of the Ranchi Test, Kumble said the team had moved on from the Bangalore Test that was mired in controversy over Steve Smith looking at the dressing room to get help on a review. Virat Kohli objected to it, the umpires too intervened at the right time but the matter boiled over outside the field and beyond the result of the second Test. Kumble is happy all that is over.

“I think what was important was to focus back on the game. I am very glad the BCCI took a very mature call with Cricket Australia and issue a joint statement that cricket needs to move on and moved out from whatever happened in Bangalore,” said Kumble on Tuesday. “That I think is important because the focus has to be on the game. I thought we made a really fantastic comeback after losing the first Test. It was very rewarding,” he said, adding that the two captains, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, will meet before this Test.

Despite the hue and cry over on-field behaviour, Kumble made it clear that he will not ask his players to pipe down. “I don’t want to curb any natural instinct of the players as long as they go out there and do what is expected of them. I don’t think we need to read too much into the aggres-

You want everyone to go out there and show what they are capable of. This is a very important series. On the series tied 1-1 The focus has to be on the game. I thought we made a really fantastic comeback after losing the first Test. It was rewarding. On the win in Bangalore

sion. Every player has his own way of having a game face. And that’s what you want. You want everyone to go out there and show what they are capable of. This is a very important series. It’s 1-1,” he said.

Kumble also said the team is not affected by too much talk over DRS and the pitches in the two Test. “It doesn’t affect our game. We are not doing the talking but you are. We are just playing and thinking about the game on the field,” said Kumble.

The overall batting may have taken a dip this series but Kumble is taking comfort from the way the team has bounced back. “I think Day 2 (of Bangalore Test) was fantastic. There was attrition. Only 190 runs were scored and six wickets taken but the intensity and control with which our bowlers bowled, especially the pacers, showed character. That’s what you want to see in a team — a lot of character and pride in doing things and coming back and winning,” he said.

“What stood out for me was KL Rahul’s batting in Bangalore and the (118-run) partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. If you look at the series so far we haven’t had a wicket-less session. But we scored more than 90 runs in that session without losing a wicket. That was a defining moment.”