Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli had varied opinions on players' pay hike

Former Indian skipper Anil Kumble recently denied extending his term as the Indian head coach after the altercation between Virat Kohli and himself never settled. Current skipper Virat Kohli was bashed mercilessly on Twitter for playing a crucial part in Kumble quitting his job and recent reports claim that Kumble and Kohli were not on the same page during in the wages hike saga.

If reports in CricNext are to be believed, Kohli and Kumble were actually not on the same page on this issue. A senior official in BCCI made shocking revelations a couple of days after Kumble quit the coveted job. Apparently, Kohli felt that the captain should be paid extra for the added responsibilities and Kumble was against his opinion.

“Never would Virat Kohli be on the same page on the captain getting paid extra for discharging the captain’s responsibility. In fact, I have personally had a word with him once or twice and he has always said that every player’s interest should be taken care of, but especially those who play just one format should be priority,” said a senior official in BCCI as quoted by CricNext.

“Actually Kumble wants to tag a few people just to strengthen his case. But his demand that the skipper be paid extra is mind-boggling,” he added. This indeed is a shocking revelation from this anonymous source as the coach getting so involved in payment related issues is unheard of in cricket history.

Kohli had demanded Rs. 5 crore for Grade A players

Digging a little deeper into this issue, Virat Kohli was palpably unhappy after BCCI announced the annual payment for cricketers. BCCI decided to pay Rs. 2 crore to Grade-A players, Rs. 1 crore to Grade-B players and Rs.50 Lakh to Grade-C players. Former cricketer Ravi Shastri too pounded on the cricket board and said Rs. 2 Crore is peanuts when compared to what their counterparts are getting.

Virat had requested for a salary of Rs. 5 crore, Rs. 3 crore and Rs. 1.5 crore for Grade-A, Grade-B and Grade-C cricketers respectively. Players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay, who are predominantly Test cricketers, might not incur the same match fee when compared to others and hence the 28-year-old’s confession was received well by COA.

COA Chief Vinod Rai later discussed these pay hikes with the Indian skipper and he said to the press back then that they will take Kohli’s opinions into consideration and react accordingly.