Team India manager Kapil Malhotra’s report reveals no rift between Kohli and Kumble

When ex-India coach Anil Kumble put down his papers suddenly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had asked administrative manager Kapil Malhotra to report the reasons for the rift between Kumble and captain Virat Kohli. An administrative manager has to prepare a report after every series that India plays. But in the report Malhotra made after the Champions Trophy, he made no mention of the rift.

Rumours of a serious fallout between Kumble and Kohli did the rounds during the build-up to the Champions Trophy where India lost the finals. It was also reported that when one walked into the nets, the other walked out. However, in his report, Malhotra suggests no such incident which can be called a breach of discipline set by the BCCI.

Nothing against Virat

“Kapil Malhotra has submitted his report. At least there is nothing in the report which suggests that skipper Virat Kohli was ever rude to the coach or mention of any incident which could be termed as a breach of discipline,” a BCCI source told PTI anonymously.

When the reports pointed out to the BCCI source that that coach and the captain were not even willing to interact with each other, he replied: “He was specifically asked to mention any incident worth reporting which may have affected the dressing room environment or morale of the team. Nothing of that sort is there in the report.”

The administrative manager for the current tour to West Indies was supposed to be Milind Kanmadikar but the Committee of Administrators (COA) decided to extend the leg for Malhotra.

The team is without a coach currently and BCCI has the tour of Sri Lanka as the deadline for the appointment of a new coach, for which former Team India director Ravi Shastri is a frontrunner.