Sourav Ganguly Would Have Thrust Anil Kumble Down Virat Kohli's Throat - Vinod Rai

On Wednesday, Sourav Ganguly expressed that every individual in the Indian Cricket will get equal respect when he was explaining regarding the future of MS Dhoni. Perhaps, it would have been the same if Sourav Ganguly was the BCCI president when Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli had a rift, after which, the former has left his head coach role. Meanwhile, Vinod Rai believes the same, in fact, he feels Ganguly would have been in favour of Anil Kumble.

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly began his new innings as he took charge of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as its 39th president on Wednesday. Ganguly was the only applicant to file his proposal for the top post. Recently, he was unanimously chosen as the presidential candidate at a meeting earlier this month.

Anil Kumble was the best coach – Vinod Rai

Indian cricket went through a turmoil in the lead up to the 2017 Champions Trophy and after that. Shortly before the Champions Trophy got underway in England, murmurs of a rift between Kohli and Kumble first appeared in the media. In the subsequent days and weeks, what unfolded was a messy sequence of events.

“Anil Kumble was the best coach available. If his contract had an extension clause, I would have extended it. I have too much respect and regard for Kumble. But since there was no extension clause and since I wasn’t equipped to decide, we fell back on CAC. We inherited the CAC, not created it,” said Rai after the tenure of the CoA came to an end on Wednesday.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly spoke to him –

There had been a total breakdown of communication between Kohli and Kumble. The players were far from happy with the coach’s headmasterly behaviour and there was absolutely no way for any single individual to solve the issue. Meanwhile, Vinod Rai feels that it would have been different if Sourav Ganguly was in charge.

“I had a long chat with Sachin then and Sourav now. I met Sachin in Birmingham during the Champions Trophy they were meeting Kumble and Virat. And, I told Sachin I had a long chat with Virat (when he was in Mumbai and I was in Hyderabad) on the telephone. I barely knew Virat then,” he added.

”I told Sachin, I felt he was not willing to accept that Kumble continues. So you people have a word with him. Coming from people of your stature, you may be able to persuade him’. I know Sachin and Sourav spoke to him. Sourav told me recently that they had a long chat with him. If they couldn’t persuade him how could I?”

I respect Anil Kumble Because he walked out –

Amidst all the ruckus in the media, the legendary Anil Kumble moved out from the frame by calling it quits. Later, Ravi Shastri took over his job and enjoyed a fair bit of success in bilateral series across the formats.

“Look, if there is a difference in the dressing room between captain and coach, who is more dispensable? Obviously, the coach. That’s where we got caught. Dirty linen got washed in public. Ramachandra Guha resigned (as CoA member). The same thing arose with the issue of Mithali Raj and Ramesh Powar.”

”Dissonance in the dressing room and we had to fall back on CAC again. There was so much controversy. Who could have handled it better? If this had happened today, Sourav would have thrust Kumble down Virat’s throat. But it could have created more tensions. I respected Kumble because he walked out,” said Rai.

It is widely assumed that captain Virat Kohli and some other players in the team had taken against Kumble’s way of leading the team and were accountable for his resignation. It is also known that Ravi Shastri as the coach of the Indian cricket team was largely Kohli’s preference.