Anil Kumble and the CAC did not sit down together looking for a solution reveals source

The Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble fiasco continues to surprise us as we are greeted with a new story each day. Almost a week has passed since Anil Kumble handed over his resignation to the BCCI, but it seems that a lot is still unknown about the issue.

According to earlier reports, it was believed that the CAC held meetings with both Kumble and Kohli in order to sort out the complications between them during the Champions Trophy. Surprisingly, recent reports reveal a completely different twist to the story.

The latest news:

Recent reports say the Cricket Advisory Committee did not sit with Anil Kumble to discuss the matter at all. The committee only engaged themselves in a meeting with skipper Virat Kohli and learnt about the issue from him.

“The CAC gave a patient hearing to Virat (Kohli) and concluded that since the problems weren’t substantial, and the team’s performance was good, there was no reason to remove Kumble. It didn’t even meet Kumble to ask him his side of the story because it felt he had done a good job since being appointed by the CAC a year ago. The CAC’s stand perhaps made Virat desperate, and he then sought a meeting with the BCCI officials after the CT final in London last Monday,”

“Having conveyed its decision to the board, the CAC didn’t feel the need to attend this meeting, where only the BCCI officials -Amitabh Chaudhary (acting secretary), Rahul Johri (CEO) and MV Sridhar (GM, cricket operations) -were present, apart from Kohli and Kumble,” explained the source mentioning level of self respect Kumble has that he chose to resign with dignity even though he had the opportunity to continue as the head coach and fly to the Caribbean.

The source claimed that Kohli took the opportunity with both hands and spoke freely for a lengthy stretch in the meeting explaining his problems with the legendary leg-spinner. He also highlighted that this was sheer disrespect from the skipper’s side towards a man of Kumble’s standards.

“In the 45-minute meeting, Kohli did most of the talking, making it clear that he had reservations about both Kumble’s style of functioning and him continuing as head coach. It was nothing but pure humiliation for a man of his stature, and it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t even choose to serve out his ‘notice period’ and accompany the team to the West Indies for a short, limited overs tour. It’s clear that a few officials wanted Kumble to exit the scene,” added the source.

The BCCI could have definitely handled the case in a much better and matured way but they failed to do so. We got an example of the same when Chaudhary denied reports of tensions between Kohli and Kumble.

On a different note, Lalchand Rajput is not happy with the board’s decision to re-invite applications for the position of the Indian head coach after Kumble’s stepping down. He said “”It is humiliating. To have submitted the resume, to have been shortlisted and to be now told that fresh applications will also be accepted is highly unprofessional on the part of the BCCI. It does show that the board never had faith in the other five candidates apart from Kumble and once he stepped down, they need new names to pick from,”