'I Spoke To Sachin Tendulkar When Virat Kohli Raised Young Players' Concerns About Anil Kumble's Disciplinarian Attitude,' Says Vinod Rai

Vinod Rai, the chief of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, which ran the BCCI for three years beginning in January 2017, said he had taken “the lead in speaking to Sachin Tendulkar” after then-India captain Virat Kohli informed him that younger players in the team were feeling “intimidated” by Anil Kumble’s coaching style.

Vinod Rai, whose newly released book ‘Not Just a Nightwatchman: My Innings in the BCCI’ shed light on Anil Kumble’s much-discussed departure as Team India head coach following the Champions Trophy in 2017, claimed it was odd that the famed leg-contract spinner’s did not include an extension term.

“See, I’ve stated before that we couldn’t have asked for a finer coach than Kumble, and that we could not have handled a cricketing great any better. I find it interesting that he was only given a one-year term in 2016 when his predecessor (Ravi Shastri) was given two.”

“Kumble’s contract did not have an extension clause and he was only given a one-year term. I would have gladly extended it if there had been an extension clause “ Vinod Rai said

Vinod Rai approached Tendulkar and other veteran cricketers regarding Kohli’s problem:

After chatting with skipper Virat Kohli about the Kumble situation, Rai says he approached Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Laxman.

“Ram Guha was irritated at this issue. He wanted his term to be automatically extended. Imagine if we had extended the period and someone went to court solely to disgrace the CoA. He could have easily stymied our plans.”

“As a result, I decided to stick to the process and make Kumble an automatic part of it. When Virat Kohli brought up the issue of younger players being frightened by Kumble’s strict attitude, I took the initiative and spoke with Sachin Tendulkar.”

“I considered myself to be a complete outsider. Why should players pay attention to me? There is a better likelihood of a breakthrough if someone like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, or VVS Laxman speaks to the team management or the players. Nonetheless, I believe the entire situation might have been handled 100 times more effectively ” Vinod Rai Added.

In 2016, Kumble was named India’s head coach. He was chosen by the Cricket Affairs Committee (CAC) led by Sachin Tendulkar, which also included Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, and decided to resign as head coach following the 2017 Champions Trophy.

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