Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'To sack Kumble or not?' that was published in Newsband

To sack Kumble or not?

The Indian cricket team begins its title defence in the ICC Champions Trophy in England from June 1 to 18. The buzz would be about India’s match against Pakistan at Birmingham on June 4. However, all is not right in the dressing room. The head coach Anil Kumble’s one-year contract will end after the Champions Trophy. Leaks have surfaced about Kumble seeking a higher pay package for the Indian players and support staff. The anti-Kumble campaign was sharpened with suggestions that Kohli is not comfortable with his “overbearing” ways. The differences between coach and skipper does nobody any good. But a decision on retaining Anil Kumble as head coach of Indian cricket team must not be muddied with personal agendas.

The Kumble-Kohli combination has delivered excellent results. Very often, Indian cricket courts controversies in one way or the other. After a good season of wins, personal clashes crop up and media adds fuel to the fire. Thus, money and man become more important than the game. This hinders the progress of the game and its players. This coach was hailed as a brave cricketer in his heyday, a cricketer of modest talents. He expected the same from the cricketers when he took over as boss. That must have created the problem.

Because India is on the verge of appointing a new coach and Anil Kumble is the frontrunner, picked by a three-member panel consisting of his former peers, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Kumble "gave the longest presentation" and had the most convincing replies to the main question: "How will they help the team win abroad?" Without a doubt, he was a great player, one of the best the country has produced, but what are his coaching credentials?

Why not Ravi Shastri, who has done a great job with the team over the past 22 months and has bonded really well with the Test captain Virat Kohli? Why break that partnership?

Why not Tom Moody. Being from "abroad", he would understand the requisites of winning overseas a lot better. So, is Kumble really the best choice we have? Only time will tell.

Virat Kohli had apprehensions about Anil Kumble right from the start. He had similar problems with another coach Ray Jennings. South African Ray Jennings was one of the first coaches that Kohli worked with at the IPL team in Bangalore a year after. Jennings was sacked and days after Kohli was named Indian captain. According to Jennings, it was Kohli who pushed for a change of coach. Daniel Vettori replaced him.  

According to Jennings, “A hard coach can keep pushing and prodding the players of the team but the relationship between the captain and coach has to be good. The trust has to be there.” ” Here is where the Kohli-Kumble issue gets complicated. Sources in the dressing room say that Kohli had apprehensions about Kumble right from the start. During IPL 2 and 3 (2009-10) Kohli and Kumble worked at Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Back then, even though Kohli was a rising star, there was no question about who was the real powerhouse. Kumble called the shots then but times have changed. Today, Kohli is the heavyweight

There are a few others who say Kumble, with little tips and timely suggestions to bowlers during the Australia Test series, actually helped them get successes. But ultimately much will depend on how Ganguly & Co. view the situation.