Ganguly, Tendulkar, Laxman wanted him as coach but Kumble said I will sidestep: Vinod Rai

Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, who served as the head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) made many notable revelations about his time at BCCI in his new book, ‘Not Just a Nightwatchman: My Innings in the BCCI’. Among the many topics discussed by the former CAG in his book, he also sheds light on how the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of members like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman wanted former Indian head coach Anil Kumble to continue as the coach of India in 2017, but the latter decided to step away. Meanwhile, during a recent conversation about his book with ANI, Vinod Rai clarified the matter. 

Speaking about the issue, Vinod Rai said that the CAC chooses the coach, and Sachin, Sourav and VVS were the committee members. They had conversations with skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble about the same. “Not aware about conflicts between Kohli and Kumble, Cricket Advisory Committee chooses coach. Committee members were Sachin, Saurav and VVS Laxman. Sachin, Saurav and VVS Laxman had spoken to captain and coach. Wrong to say Kohli was outside the law. CAC had decided to go ahead with Kumble as a coach, but Kumble said I will sidestep if things are not good," Rai said.

What did Vinod Rai write in his book?

Meanwhile, speaking about Kohli and Kumble in his book, Rai suggested that the coach and the skipper did not have a healthy working relationship. “They felt that the differences were fairly severe and maybe it was only the CAC that would be best suited to have a thorough discussion with both of them. Soon, the CAC met in London and interacted with the two separately, in a bid to resolve the issue. After deliberations over three days, they decided to recommend Kumble’s reappointment as the head coach,” wrote Rai in his book.

He further illustrated the relationship between Kohli and Kumble, and wrote, “ In my conversations with the captain and team management, it was conveyed that Kumble was too much of a disciplinarian and hence the team members were not too happy with him. I had spoken to Virat Kohli on the issue and he did mention that the younger members of the team felt intimidated by the way he worked with them”. Rai, in his position as the head of COA, ran Indian cricket close to three years, after the IPL match-fixing conundrum. His book ‘Not Just a Nightwatchman — My Innings in the BCCI’ sheds light on the Kohli-Kumble controversy that took place in 2017, which led to Kumble’s exit as the head coach. The book also sheds light on the Indian women’s cricket team, and also the allegations of sexual harassment against the then BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.

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