Former COA Chief reveals how Anil Kumble felt after being asked to step-down as Head Coach

Vinod Rai, the former chief of Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), recently published his book called 'Not Just a Nightwatchman — My Innings in the BCCI' where he opened up on the much-discussed captain-coach rift between former India head coach Anil Kumble and ex-skipper Virat Kohli. 

The former IAS officer highlighted the views of the former Indian head coach as to how he was treated "unfairly" and forced to resign as head coach of the Indian team. In a conversation with Rai, Kumble also emphasized how his successful head coach record should have been more important than players' objections.

"We had long conversations with Kumble after he had returned from the UK. He was upset about how the entire episode had panned out. He felt he had been unfairly treated, and a captain or team should not be given so much importance." 

"It was the coach's duty to bring discipline and professionalism into the team, and as a senior, his views should have been respected by the players."

Vinod Rai, in his book, while opening up on the entire Kumble-Kohli saga, acknowledged that the former Indian captain told him that younger members of the team felt intimidated by Kumble.

"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 mentioned that the team's younger members felt intimidated by the way he worked with them," Rai writes in the book. 

Rai, who was named head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) in 2017, also mentioned in his book how he provided a proper explanation to Kumble as to why he didn't get an extension. 

This entire coach & captain rift in Indian cricket finally ended with Kumble stepping down as a head coach on his own. Rai, in his book, describes this move as "a bolt from the blue" moment.

Rai, however, found it a mature and dignified move by the duo not to open up on the issue in the media as it might have led to another controversy, which could have harmed Indian cricket more. 

"It is indeed very prudent of captain Kohli to have maintained a dignified silence. Any utterance from him would have set off a barrage of opinions.

"Kumble, on his part, too, kept to himself and did not go public on any issue that had transpired. That was the most mature and dignified manner of dealing with a situation which could have become unpleasant for all parties involved."