India captain Kohli has ‘no problems’ with Kumble
birmingham — India captain Virat Kohli was adamant he had “no problems” with coach Anil Kumble amid reports of a damaging rift on the eve of the team’s Champions Trophy title defence.
An extra layer of intrigue has been added to India’s opening match against Pakistan — already the most high-profile fixture in world cricket — in Birmingham on Sunday by Indian media reports of differences between Kohli and Kumble over tactics and training.
Kumble’s contract ends this month but the decision to advertise his job ahead of the Champions Trophy, a tournament featuring the world’s top eight one-day international sides, led historian Ramachnadra Guha to resign in protest from a a Supreme Court-appointed committee overseeing the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Kumble has helped India win all five Test series since his appointment in June last year.
The BCCI insisted it had merely followed routine procedure by inviting applications for the former India leg-spinner’s job.
This was a view endorsed by Kohli during his pre-match press conference at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground on Saturday.
“There have been a lot of speculations and a lot of things being written by people without actually being a part of the changing room, which is very strange,” he said.
“There are no problems whatsoever. If something is put in place as a process, I don’t see why people are creating so many speculations about it. It’s been followed last time as well, and I didn’t see any issues being created last time. It’s the same process.
“It’s just happening after 12 months. And there are no issues whatsoever. The team is totally focused on the Champions Trophy,” said the star batsman. —