Team India to get a foreign coach

The ongoing tussle between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble has left a bad taste in the mouth of the BCCI. Kumble is the head coach of the Indian cricket team and his accomplishment as a coach is phenomenal so far, as is evident in India’s stupendous success. They have won every series under him save for the T20 series in the USA against West Indies.

Kumble’s tenure as a coach is about to end and the board has decided to give an extension to his coaching career. But the ongoing rift in the dressing room in England on the brink of Champions Trophy has made BCCI rethink. After delving deep into the CV’s of past cricketers, the BCCI narrowed down to one name; the coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Tom Moody.

The BCCI said that they have explored a lot of names but not many are willing to take up the coveted post. Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag had earlier turned down the offer. OnlyMoody hasn’t tendered a refusal and so they are considering him for the job. The Board also reasoned that since Tom is a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad, having coached there for a while now, he is pretty habituated with the functioning of Indian cricket.

BCCI’s take on the situation

“Very surprisingly there haven’t been too many applications of repute and it could well be because of the scenario where they are wary because despite the team doing well, the players seem to be unhappy with Kumble. Moody could be a possible choice as he understands Indian Cricket having been a part of the IPL. Also Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) member VVS Laxman has worked closely with Moody so he knows how the Austarlian functions,” a senior BCCI official told Cricketnext.

The Committee of Administrators (COA) is not poking its nose in the selection process of the next coach by the Cricket Advisory Committee(CAC) as it doesn’t have any inkling of what specifically went wrong between Virat and Kumble. They only got a sniff that Kumble’s authoritative nature is not going down well with the players and so they have expressed displeasure about it.

“You have to realise that the interest of the players cannot be overlooked and if the situation does arise where the players are not keen, to work with the current coach, then the CAC will pick a new coach. Sitting in India it is not possible for the COA to understand what exactly went wrong between Kumble and the players, but it is believed that the players are not happy with his authoritative nature. The CAC has been given the responsibility to look into all the areas and do what is best for Indian Cricket. The will work things out with CEO Rahul Johri,” a source close to the COA said.

Moody’s name had earlier popped up when the BCCI decided to look for a new coach after the expiry of John Wright’s tenure in 2005. But Greg Chappell’s case impressed a few selectors and he was given the responsibility. Tom had a good stint with the Sri Lankan team when under him the Lankans went to the finals of 2007 World Cup.

Though Kumble was picked up by the CAC trio of Sachin, Sourav and VVS, the situation is worrying, according to Sourav Ganguly. He made it clear that the timing wasn’t right for the rift as India will be focussing on defending their title.