Virat Kohli was not at fault in Anil Kumble's exit as Team India head coach: Vinod Rai

Anil Kumble’s unceremonious exit as Team India’s head coach in 2017 gave rise to several controversies. Virat Kohli, the then Indian skipper, had come under the scanner during that episode as several fans and members of the cricket fraternity blamed him for Kumble’s resignation. However, Vinod Rai, the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administration (COA) head, made it crystal clear that Kohli was not at fault in the saga.

He also asserted that there was no bad blood between Kohli and Kumble. However, the former took the stand for his team as the junior players felt intimidated by Kumble’s presence. Notably, Vinod opened up about the saga in his recently-published book ‘NOT JUST A NIGHTWATCHMAN: My Innings in the BCCI.’ Shedding light on the episode even further, Rai came out in support of Kohli and termed his criticism unfair.

There was no bad blood between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble: Vinod Rai

“I have made very clear in the book that Virat was only representing the team’s feelings. He was not the one (who had problems with Kumble). A lot of people have asked me ‘what was the behaviour between Kohli and Kumble?’ I say ‘we didn’t see them in those three months’ and ‘there was no disturbance between the two’,” said Rai in an interaction with Boria Majumdar.

“The junior members of the team felt intimidated by Kumble. So, it’s only unnecessary to pan the entire blame on Kohli,” he added. Meanwhile, Rai, in his book, mentioned that the entire episode could have been handled in a better way with Kumble being such a prominent figure in Indian cricket.

Rai also revealed that he spoke to Sachin Tendulkar, the then CoA member, to intervene in the matter as Kohli complained about the juniors feeling intimidated by Kumble. “When Virat Kohli raised the issue of younger players being intimidated by Kumble’s disciplinarian approach, I took the lead in speaking to Sachin Tendulkar. I saw myself as a rank outsider. Why would players listen to me?” wrote Rai in his book.

“But if someone like Sachin (Tendulkar), Sourav (Ganguly), or VVS (Laxman) speaks to the team management or the players, there is a greater chance of a breakthrough. Still, I believe the entire episode could have been handled 100 times better,” he added.