Anil was gracious to resign as India’s coach: Mohammad Azharuddin

The situation in the Indian cricket team has hit a new low since the Virat-Kumble fiasco, with Anil Kumble stepping down as coach voluntarily after India’s colossal loss in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan. The rift was brewing for a long time and it affected the mental psyche of the players. With BCCI delving deep to find out the crux of the rift, a can of worms has opened up.

It has been alleged that Virat had abused Kumble ahead of the final after some disagreements between them. Also, players within the team did not want the former leg-spinner to continue as their coach. Unable to bear the standoff, Kumble tendered a resignation letter to the BCCI in which he lamented the fallout between him and Virat after his brilliant stint as the coach for a year.

The letter has sent the alarm bells ringing within the BCCI. Even former cricketers expressed their displeasure at the situation and asked the BCCI to solve this predicament as soon as possible. Former captain and Kumble’s team-mate Mohammad Azharuddin said that the leggie treated his position with utmost respect which was evident in his decision of stepping down with grace. He didn’t want to worsen the situation.

Azhar’s take on Kumble’s decision

But the former captain was clueless about the reason for the rift and said that to blame anybody for the fiasco was very tough. ”Anil was gracious to resign as India coach. Don’t know who was at fault. Kumble played cricket in a very positive manner. It is very hard to blame anybody. The cricket advisory committee which appointed Anil as coach will have to look into whatever has happened (between Kumble and Kohli),” Azhar told India Today.

Azhar reiterated that differences and disagreements are common within the dressing room and players and coach should sort things out amicably. But things have turned really sour which led to Kumble’s resignation.”Things must have gone out of hand really badly. Anil did a good job, but at the end of the day, everybody wants to know what happened and why it was imposible for the captain and coach to reconcile,” Azhar added.

Though it may be Kumble’s personal desire to withdraw, these fallouts can’t be tolerated according to Azharuddin. The BCCI should chalk out specific roles for the captain and coach and take positive steps to avoid such ugly situations in the future.

“We cannot run on whims and fancies. The board has to come in and define what is the captain’s job and what is the coach’s job,” he concluded.