HISTORIAN GUHA QUITS, KUMBLE SEEN AS REASON

Historian Ramachandra Guha cited personal reasons in resigning from the Committee of Administrators (CoA) appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the working of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations.

Mr Guha handed in his resignation to the Supreme Court here on Thursday, immediately sparking off speculation linking it to the ongoing uncertainty over the future of Anil Kumble as India’s head coach, whom Guha has been a supporter of.

Kumble’s term ends later this month and it is unclear if he will stay on in the job that was handed to him by the BCCI’s cricket committee of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. The court is in recess for its summer break and a vacation bench of judges deferred accepting the decision to July 14.

There was no comment or statement from the historian himself, though it was reported that he had informed CoA chairman and former CAG Vinod Rai of his decision to quit the committee that was set up in January this year. The committee as it stands now has Rai, former India women’s captain Diana Eduljee and MD of Infrastructure Development Finance Company, Vikram Limaye, to help run the BCCI along with its office-bearers.

GUHA, AS PART OF THE COMMITTEE OF ADMINISTRATORS, WAS INVOLVED IN PUSHING FOR BETTER PAY FOR THE COACH AND PLAYERS, A SURPRISE FALLOUT OF WHICH WAS THE CALLING OF APPLICATIONS FOR HEAD COACH’S JOB