Anil Kumble steps down as Indian cricket team coach

Anil Kumble has stepped down as India’s chief cricket coach after a one-year tenure that was marked by some great successes.

Reports of a rift between Kumble and captain Virat Kohli have been making headlines over the past one month but the former leg-spin ace was named as part of the squad that travelled to the West Indies on Tuesday for a one-day international series, after the Champions Trophy in England.

Kumble didn’t travel with the team, ostensibly to attend the ICC Annual Conference, as he is the chairman of the Cricket Committee.

The development led to speculation that he had quit the job and late in the night, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the news.

“The BCCI confirms that Mr Anil Kumble has withdrawn his services from the post of the Head Coach for the Senior India Men’s team,” a statement on its website said.

“While the Cricket Advisory Committee had endorsed an extension to his tenure as Head Coach, Mr Anil Kumble has decided not to continue as the coach.”

Later, Kumble, in a statement on Twitter, said he was told by BCCI that the captain had reservations about his ‘style’. In such a scenario, he said, it was apparent that the partnership was untenable.

Kumble was named coach last year for a one-year period and after a successful run, he was expected to get an automatic extension.

But it became apparent that all was not well when the BCCI invited applications for the coach a few days before the Champions Trophy and said Kumble qualified automatically for the selection process.

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V V S Laxman had held discussions with Kumble and Kohli during the Champions Trophy in a patch-up bid. While it was reported that a compromise had been worked out, it soon emerged that Kohli had made his displeasure clear to the CAC on having Kumble as head coach.

With Kumble as coach, India won Test series in the West Indies besides defeating New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia in India.