A new book by former cricket administrator Vinod Rai has shed more light on a stormy chapter in Indian cricket: The relationship between former captain Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble.
Rai, an IAS officer, had served as Comptroller and Auditor General of India. In 2017, he was appointed by the Supreme Court to head the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to oversee the functioning of the BCCI. Rai served in the role until the COA was wound up in late 2019.
Rai's new book is called Not just a nightwatchman: My innings in the BCCI.
The Indian Express published excerpts of the book on Tuesday.
Kumble had served as head coach of the Indian cricket team from 2016 to 2017. Kumble shocked the cricket world by resigning a day after India lost the final of the ICC Champions Trophy to Pakistan in England in June 2017. In his resignation letter, Kumble revealed Kohli had “reservations” about his style of functioning and stated it was “apparent that the [coach-captain] partnership was untenable”.
In his book, Rai notes “In my conversations with the captain and team management, it was conveyed that Kumble was too much of a disciplinarian and hence the team members were not too happy with him. I had spoken to Virat Kohli on the issue and he did mention that the younger members of the team felt intimidated by the way he worked with them.”
Rai wrote Kumble felt he had been unfairly treated. “We had long conversations with Kumble after he had returned from the UK. He was obviously upset about the manner in which the entire episode had panned out. He felt he had been unfairly treated and a captain or team should not be given so much importance. It was the duty of the coach to bring discipline and professionalism into the team and as a senior, his views should have been respected by the players,” Rai wrote.
Rai revealed the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC)—comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman—had taken note of the differences between Kumble and Kohli and talked to both of them separately. The CAC even decided to recommend that Kumble be reappointed as head coach, but the legendary former leg-spinner decided to resign. Rai described Kumble's resignation as being a “bolt from the blue”.
