Imagine being a fly on the wall in the Indian dressing room.
Potentially, you could be the richest insect in the world, with the said country’s media chasing to get exclusive knowledge – a rich currency in today’s climate. For at this moment, nobody knows what precisely is transpiring between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble as the Men in Blue get ready to defend their Champions Trophy title.
“Everything is normal with the Indian team. There is no disharmony among the players and coach. The media reports are not based on facts,” insisted a source.
There is a fine line between fact and fiction when it comes to the functioning of the BCCI, the Indian team and everything in between. “Why destroy a good story with facts”, asked that same source. Well, can there be smoke without fire?
Let us assume there will be no flies on the wall at Edgbaston, where India are stationed until the big game against Pakistan on June 4. From an outsider’s perspective then, there are three angles to this massively disturbing story – the board, the captain and the coach.
Kumble is keeping quiet and probably watching how things unfold (read, if anyone applies for his job). Kohli had the chance to dispel all doubts in the pre-tournament media briefing, when the team landed in London. He didn’t, instead supporting the “due process” underway back home.
The BCCI’s role herein is the most suspicious. They advertised for Kumble’s job just as he was boarding a flight. By the time he landed, it had spiralled into a storm. Couldn’t the board have chosen a better time to do this?
“Can they even dislodge Kumble from the post after the successful season he has had? And what if India do win the Champions Trophy? Will they remove a coach who has won 10 Tests and an ICC tournament?” a former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator said, on condition of anonymity.
🇮🇳 vs 🇧🇩 #CT17 warm-up match - #TeamIndia 324/7 (50.0 ov) beat Bangladesh 84 (23.5 ov) by 240 runs. @y_umesh 16/3, @BhuviOfficial 13/3 pic.twitter.com/OsVwhV6xOu
— BCCI (@BCCI) May 30, 2017
The BCCI aren’t pleased with the way Kumble had demanded additional coaching staff and negotiated an increase in pay for both the players as well as support staff.
Is it only about the money, though? Or, is it a power struggle between the old guard of the BCCI and the new administration trying to settle in, with the team and support staff caught in the crossfire?
There can be no doubt here that certain factions of the board are working against both the Indian captain and coach at the same time.
Kohli today, in his singular aura as the team’s best batsman and leadership candidate, enjoys greater power than most Indian skippers in the past.
Calculatedly, he is ahead of the influence enjoyed by MS Dhoni, comparable perhaps only to Sachin Tendulkar.
This authority cannot be quantified of course, but it is disturbing news for the BCCI that always keeps its players on a leash. The increase in pay demands, therefore, couldn’t have gone without censure.
Simultaneously then, it is also about hauling Kumble in. How can an Indian coach continue to peddle financial arguments for players (and others) when he is an employee? In that respect at least, the legendary leg-spinner has overstepped the mark.
Yet, it is still not enough ground on which to dismiss him from this role. Even so, certain elements within the BCCI did get an opportunity to pit the duo against each other.
How did matters come to this?
There can be no denying that there is difference of opinion between Kohli and Kumble at present. Any captain and coach would, and these are two strong personalities, contrasting even. It could be about a whole spectrum of issues, ranging from strategy, to fitness, to even assertion over matters beyond a certain limit.
The question to ask here is, if matters have come to head so much that the duo cannot sort them out like two respected professionals, and indeed grown ups?
“It is all rubbish,” said a former Indian cricketer, someone who will have a major say on this ‘coach issue’ in the coming weeks.
The smoke remains, India must just hope a fire doesn’t then engulf their Champions Trophy bid.
