Doesn’t the Cricket Advisory Committee, made up of esteemed cricketing greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, have the power to stamp its authority on the captain and tell him to carry on with the coach that it has appointed?
The otherwise social-media friendly Virat Kohli has been quiet since the start of the week. There has not been a single post on his Twitter account/Instagram after sharing a picture with a few of his team-mates during a stop-over from London to Birmingham for the Champions Trophy semifinal last week.
He famously said on the eve of the Champions Trophy final: “The biggest thing is to stay off social media. Honestly, it sounds funny, but it's so important to stay away from those things, to connect to things that matter, the things that a sportsman needs to take care of.”
Perhaps, Kohli is taking it too seriously and staying off social media that has made him into a villain in the whole Virat Kohli vs Anil Kumble spat that resulted in the latter’s resignation on Tuesday. Going by the public reaction post Kumble’s resignation, almost the entire nation has gone against the Indian captain for the manner in which the legendary cricketer had been treated.
Kohli seems to be oblivious of the backlash in the social media as in the photo posted on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday by Cricket West Indies, Kohli is smiling and shaking hands with the West Indies captain Jason Holder upon arrival at the team hotel in Trinidad shortly after Kumble shared his statement.
The 28-year-old premier batsman in world cricket may not be minding the furore he may have created in India, with former India cricketers slamming him for the sour relationship with Kumble. He has made his point of “either it’s him or me” across to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) made up of esteemed cricketing greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
This brings to question: Is the CAC powerful at all? Them of a combined tally of 31,914 runs in 447 Tests alone with 84 centuries besides a whole lot of ODI runs, what role does the CAC actually play other than selecting a coach? Doesn’t it have the power to stamp its authority on the captain and tell him to carry on with the coach that it has appointed?
Isn’t it indirectly disrespecting the legendary members of the CAC and its decision to name Anil Kumble, who in his statement has said that the CAC asked “me to continue as Head Coach”? Kumble’s quitting was eventually a slap on the faces of the CAC members, courtesy Kohli’s adamant behaviour.
The CAC will be given more applications to choose Kumble’s successor from. But it may just be a “process” before zeroing in on the candidate of Kohli’s preference. If that is the case, why have this Cricket Advisory Committee at all and use its expertise in selection of the head coach?
With the BCCI asking for more applications following Tuesday’s developments, it goes without saying that more time is given for the former Team Director Ravi Shastri to apply himself and become the automatic choice. It is known that Shastri and Kohli get along greatly. He even sought out for Shastri after the Champions Trophy final and exchanged words before heading their respective ways. Both have similar mindsets and the passion to win and play aggressive cricket, as was seen in the former’s first tenure at the helm from September 2014 till the ICC World T20 early last year.
If Shastri was the preferred choice, then why didn’t the BCCI continue with him in the first place? After all, the results under Shastri have not been bad. It was beginning to move in the right direction, something that was taken over by his successor Kumble and taken to greater heights.
And, in the CAC appointing Kumble and showing faith in its former captain to continue at the end of his one-year term, then why wasn’t the panel given power to put its foot down and tell Kohli to get along with the coach of its choice. It is like a student telling his school principal of his dislike to a particular teacher and wanting him out, though it will be the student who will be thrown out.
The Indian team is in the West Indies without a head coach. It is not new at all as the team was without one in Zimbabwe last year between the World T20 and Kumble’s appointment. The team had it easy against Zimbabwe. It will have it easy against a depleted West Indies now.
Though the team may return victorious from the West Indies and the bitter memory of the Champions Trophy final loss will be forgotten, Kohli may not feel the same about the Kumble episode.
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