Anil Kumble likely to be retained as the coach

Over the last few weeks reports of a rift between the Indian players and coach Anil Kumble has been the talk of the town. As a result, right ahead of the Champions Trophy the BCCI had put up an advertisement seeking applications for the position of the head coach of the Indian cricket team. The tenure of current coach Anil Kumble ends soon after the Champions Trophy.

However, the BCCI had granted him a direct entry into the selection process. Virender Sehwag, Dodda Ganesh, Lalchand Rajput and foreigners Richard Pybus, Tom Moody and Craig McDermott are among the others who had put their foot in the contest for the high profile job.

What’s the news?

It was recently learnt that 10 players from the current Indian team were against Kumble’s extension as coach. However, as per the latest developments, the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) seems to be in favour of continuing with Anil Kumble as the coach of the Indian team until the 2019 World Cup.

The committee comprising of former Indian cricketing legends, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman has indicated that it is looking forward to retaining Kumble’s service in spite of the number of controversies that have popped up over the last few weeks. They will be trying to resolve the issues between the coach and the team in a bid to bridge the gap that has emerged.

New Indian Express quoted some sources saying, “Around 10 players have told the committee that they are not happy with Kumble’s way of functioning, but it is not the only thing that they will look at. The team has done well over the last 12 months, and they clearly don’t want to have another change in personnel. They might meet the players again and when they sit down with Kumble, their priorities will be to see this combination going forward.”

The BCCI appointed CAC had to meet on Wednesday to conduct the interviews of the other short-listed candidates for the post but they did not. According to the latest reports, Kumble will be making another presentation before the committee and its members will first speak to him.

The sources also revealed that the Committee will work towards resolving the issue between the players and the coach. Only if the committee feels that the tussle is beyond repair, they will consider selecting a new coach.

Even though the committee is quite keen on making a decision about this entire dilemma they will disclose their choice only after the Champions Trophy since they do not want to hamper the team’s confidence in the ongoing marquee event.