Kolkata: Reports of the Kohli-Kumble conflict in the Indian team seems to be attaining greater levels of bitterness with each passing day as according to reports from the Bangalore Mirror, both skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble shared, ‘cold vibes’ after India’s second warm up game against Bangladesh on May 30.
But that’s not all. Things between the two has seemed to have reached a really ugly level as Kohli, reportedly walked away when Kumble went to the nets, with some equipments.
On Thursday, the acting secretary of the BCCI Amitabh Chaudhary and the General Manager of the board MV Sridhar had a meeting with some players from the team on this issue, although the conclusion of the meeting is yet to be revealed.
Amitabh Chaudhary has categorically denied any talks of the rift within the team but the BCCI has already sent a three man team to the UK to address this issue. The three member team consists of Chaudhary himself, Sridhar and CoA chief Vinod Rai.
The BCCI had earlier in a press release had advertised the job of the head coach and had invited fresh applications, the last date for which was Wednesday. The differences between Kohli and Kumble are “almost irrevocable” despite the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) trying their best to make everything peaceful between the two of them.
Ganguly meets Indian team
Amidst the internal conflict in the team with coach Anil Kumble, former skipper and a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) Sourav Ganguly met the Indian team cricketers at the team hotel on Friday.
According to sources, the former left-hander asked the team to give him a feedback of Kumble as a coach. Ganguly along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman would decide who would be the next coach of the Indian team.
Sehwag in fray
Meanwhile, former opener of the Indian team- Virender Sehwag is one of the applicants for the job of the head coach after the BCCI advertised the post few days back.
Earlier he had declined an offer to submit his application for the top job but as of now it seems that he has changed his mind. The other applicants along with Sehwag and current coach Anil Kumble are- Lalchand Rajput, former pacer Doda Ganesh, former Sri Lanka coach Tom Moody and Englishman Richard Pybus.
However, in a recent meeting with the BCCI officials, some members of the CoA seemed to be displeased when Sehwag’s name came up in relation to the job of the head coach, although some top BCCI officials support his case for the coach.
The former right handed hard hitting batsman has been the mentor of the IPL franchise- Kings XI Punjab for the last two years but doesn’t have a formal coaching experience with him.
(With inputs from NDTV Sports and Hindustan Times)