Difficult For New Coach To Replicate Anil Kumble's Success, Says Virender Sehwag

With Anil Kumble sensationally stepping down as Team India coach on Tuesday (June 20), former India opener Virender Sehwag feels the outgoing coach’s successor will have a tough job filling his boots.

Kumble’s sudden resignation has ended the episode that had started with rumours of a rift between him and skipper Virat Kohli in the buildup to the Champions Trophy. And while Kohli had denied all the allegations before the tournament-opener against Pakistan on June 4, Kumble made the matter crystal-clear in his statement after resigning from his post. The former India skipper revealed that he stepped down after knowing about Kohli’s reservations over his ‘style’ of coaching and even stated that the partnership between the two was untenable.

Kumble said that moving on was the best option for him but there is absolutely no denying that losing him is a big loss for the team and Sehwag fully agrees with it. The swashbuckling opener said that the new coach will find it tough to replicate Kumble’s success.

“I never played under him as a coach but he supported me as a senior player in my playing days. He was my senior, my captain and helped me come. I don’t know him as a coach but his performances in last one year as a coach, it will be a difficult job for his successor to replicate his success. It will be difficult for anyone to fit into his boots, he said to UCWeb We-Media Blogger – Padampati Sharma.

Kumble, who was appointed the coach in June last year, began his term with a 2-0 series in West Indies. Under his guidance, the team reached the summit of the ICC Test rankings, beating West Indies, New Zealand, England, Australia and Bangladesh. They also won limited-over series against New Zealand and England and ended the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2017 as runners up.

With Kumble revealing that Kohli was not happy with his coaching style, Sehwag was asked about it. In reply, Sehwag said: “I cannot comment on his coaching style but as a player or captain, no one else can perform better than him.”

Sehwag, meanwhile, is one of the five candidates who have applied for the coach’s post. The other four are Tom Moody, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Dodda Ganesh.