I Don't Know What Happened Between Kohli And Kumble, Says Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, former India skipper and the member of BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee, on Saturday (June 24), declined to comment on the reasons put forward by Anil Kumble for stepping down as India coach.

Kumble, on Tuesday (June 20), resigned from his post and put out a statement on Twitter, revealing the shocking reason behind his unexpected decision. The former India skipper revealed that he chose to walk away after knowing about skipper Virat Kohli‘s reservations about his style.

Kumble’s resignation brought an end to the episode that had begun with reports of rift between him and Kohli. The reports surfaced during the buildup of the Champions Trophy and although Kohli had rubbished the reports at that time, Kumble’s tweet made it pretty clear that all was not well between the two.

However, the other half of the story, that is Kohli’s side is still unknown as the India skipper has decided to remain silent. Speaking before the first ODI against Windies earlier this week, Kohli had said  it was important for the team to maintain the sanctity of the dressing room.

And with everyone still guessing about what really transpired between Kohli and Kumble, Ganguly was asked about the incident. However, the former batsman, who along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman has been assigned the responsibility of appointing the next coach and was close to developments during the Champions Trophy in England, said he did not know what happened inside the dressing room.

“They are senior people, both of them have played enough cricket. We don’t deal with all that. It’s between them, I don’t know what happened. I am not part of the dressing room. All I know is that he didn’t want to continue and we will have to see what’s the way forward,” Ganguly told reporters.

When asked if the dressing room culture had changed since the time Kumble left, Ganguly said: “It’s a tough question for me to answer. As I said it’s Anil’s decision. I don’t know the details. I don’t  know whether Virat asked him to leave. I cannot say anything more about it.”

Meanwhile, the BCCI has extended the timeline for submission of applications for the head coach’s post to July 9. The new applicants will join Virender Sehwag, Lalchand Rajput, Tom Moody, Richard Pybus and Dodda Ganesh who had applied for the post when the BCCI invited applications last month.