Virat Kohli needs to deliver post Kumble resignation to justify himself: BCCI sources

The resignation of former Indian head coach Anil Kumble has brought skipper Virat Kohli under severe criticism. The Twitterati held the right-handed batsman responsible for Kumble’s step and seemed unhappy with the captain.

Complications between Virat and Kumble came into recognition during the recently concluded Champions Trophy which led to stepping down of the latter. According to reports Kohli was not convinced with the legendary leg spinner’s management skills and demanded a new face in the position of the head coach.

The main story:

While speaking to the TOI, a top BCCI official has highlighted the fact that Virat Kohli will be under immense pressure after Kumble’s decision to walk away from the position. The Delhi-born star has to prove himself and bring results in order to justify his actions. Failing to do so can bring him under the scanner and make him face some strict measures.

“It has been given to understand that Kohli eventually had the veto power on the coach issue which pushed Kumble out of the team. Now that he has his way, he has to deliver as captain. Otherwise, he had it,”

Kohli informed the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprised of legends in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman that he was not being able to trust Anil Kumble. Having said that, Kohli agreed to work with Kumble if ordered by the CAC.

On the other hand, Kumble, in his meeting with the CAC informed of not having any problem with Kohli. the CAC members have explained the matter to the Committee of Administrators and have asked them to be alert in case of similar situations in the future. The meeting revolved around the topic that why was the matter allowed to thrive and not solved in the initial stages.

Despite the objection of the captain the board still voted for Kumble to continue because of his impressive record as the coach. “Since, Kohli had strong reservations against him, Kumble decided to gracefully leave the scene on his own,” said the official.

It is believed that Kumble’s speech after losing the Champions Trophy final was also not taken on a positive note by the team members. Kumble tried to mention how the extras gave away the match to Pakistan without coming down hard on the players. Kohli agreed to Kumble’s statement and at first but later turned the discussion towards how well the team played to make their journey to the finals.

According to sources, the timing of Kumble’s speech sparked the fire while Kumble could have avoided it at that time. But a part of the BCCI also thinks that Kumble was right in his duties as coach.