Head coach of Indian cricket team

[jaydeep]

As per the report, Virender Sehwag, former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody, Englishman Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Dodda Ganesh with Anil Kumble r in the race.

Interests Sehwag needs to surrender to be India coach

Also, former CoA member Ramachandra Guha raised some concerns about Indian cricket in his resignation letter.

Guha raises questions for Indian cricket

[jaydeep]

As per latest report, Anil Kumble will remain India's coach for the tour of West Indies subject to his acceptance.

Kumble will remain coach for West Indies tour, says COA head Vinod Rai

[prasen9]

I would like to see Tom Moody become the coach. This team has done fine, but, I do not know if Kumble can devise game-plans that will lead to victories abroad though I was heartened to know that Kuldeep was Kumble's idea. I have a hunch that Moody would emphasize on fitness and fielding a bit more although Kohli himself does emphasize these things too. I will not complain if Kumble is retained and actually be happy that the captain could not kick him out. But, if I were asked who would maximize victories abroad, I would possibly give Moody the edge.

[jaydeep]

As per a report, Anil Kumble steps down as team India Head coach.

Anil Kumble Steps Down as Team India Head Coach

[prasen9]

Sad state of affairs. Kohli will now have to deliver or should be removed. At some point, the BCCI should empower the coach more and move away from personality-centric governance/administration.

[PKBasu]

Sad that it had to come to this. From the surface, the only differences were over Pujara (batting faster in tests) and Kuldeep Yadav, on both of which Kumble made the right decision. I think having Kumble as a sounding board would have helped Kohli become a better captain, but that was not to be.

[jaydeep]

Kumble's full statement -

"I am honoured by the confidence reposed in me by the CAC, in asking me to continue as Head Coach. The credit for the achievements of the last one year goes to the Captain, the entire team, coaching and support staff.

Post this intimation, I was informed for the first time yesterday by the BCCI that the Captain had reservations with my 'style' and about my continuing as the Head Coach. I was surprised since I have always respected the role boundaries between Captain and Coach. Though the BCCI attempted to resolve the misunderstandings between the Captain and me, it was apparent that the partnership was untenable, and I therefore believe it is best for me to move on.

Professionalism, discipline, commitment, honesty, complementary skills and diverse views are the key traits I bring to the table. These need to be valued for the partnership to be effective. I see the Coach's role akin to 'holding a mirror' to drive self-improvement in the team's interest.
In light of these 'reservations' I believe it is best I hand over this responsibility to whomever the CAC and BCCI deem fit.

Let me reiterate that it has been an absolute privilege to have served as Head Coach for the last one year. I thank the CAC, BCCI, CoA and all concerned.
I also wish to thank the innumerable followers and fans of Indian cricket for their continued support. I will remain a well-wisher of the great cricketing tradition of my country forever."

Partnership between Kohli and me was untenable: Kumble

Scolding team for Champions Trophy debacle hastened Anil Kumble’s departure

Following India's 180-run defeat on Sunday, Kumble is understood to have had one-on-ones with some players regarding their performance in the game, leading to some frayed nerves in the dressing room. Kumble was upset by the team's poor bowling in that match and is said to have mentioned to the bowling lineup that they compared poorly with some past legends of Indian cricket.

[jaydeep]

Sad day for Indian cricket: Gavaskar on Kumble exit

[prasen9]

If Ashwin was chastised, that is great. He possibly does not deserve to be in the ODI team. Ditto for Umesh. Ditto for Bhuvi outside England. We know what we have in these guys. We should give Chahal, Rasool, Kuldeep, Axar, etc. a proper run. Then choose the best performers for the WC. Similarly, we should try Binny, Dhawal, Unadkat, Mohit etc. a proper run and then choose the best.

[PKBasu]

The Indian cricket captain is one of the nation's icons. There is little doubt about this, so the right approach is the one John Wright took -- subordinate yourself to the captain, and work behind the scenes to make a difference. Kumble was quite open about expressing his differences with the captain (which may be OK elsewhere, but certainly won't work in India; actually I'm not sure it would work anywhere). Kumble made the right call on Pujara and Kuldeep, but should not have crowed about it (ie, we shouldn't have known that those were his decisions, not Kohli's). That is just the reality of Indian cricket, and there's no point pretending otherwise. I think it may be best not to pick another former India star (especially a recent one like Sehwag) as the coach; instead go for a guy like Tom Moody or Lalchand Rajput, who will never be competing with Kohli for the press narrative about the Indian team.

[jaydeep]

Some more updates and Ravi Shastri is back in as candidate for Team India coach.

Doors open for Ravi Shastri? BCCI widens its search for new coach

Kumble-Kohli communication had stopped six months ago

Post the ICC Champions Trophy final, there were three separate meetings at the Indian team's hotel.
The first was where Kumble met the BCCI top brass and members of CAC followed by Kohli meeting them.
The last and the most "eventful" meeting was when Kohli and Kumble were made to sit across the table. The talks failed completely as there was no communication.

"The two had stopped talking to each other since December when the England Test series got over. There were problems but it was like shocking that the two didn't have any proper communication for the past six months. On Sunday evening after the final, they were made to sit across table and they both agreed that it's not working out."
When asked what was the problem, the source said: "When we spoke to Anil separately and specifically asked him if there's any problem, he said he has 'no problems with Virat'. He was also told about the specific areas where Kohli has reservations about his functioning, while Anil said these were non-issues."

[prasen9]

The Indian cricket captain is one of the nation's icons. There is little doubt about this, so the right approach is the one John Wright took -- subordinate yourself to the captain, and work behind the scenes to make a difference. Kumble was quite open about expressing his differences with the captain (which may be OK elsewhere, but certainly won't work in India; actually I'm not sure it would work anywhere). Kumble made the right call on Pujara and Kuldeep, but should not have crowed about it (ie, we shouldn't have known that those were his decisions, not Kohli's). That is just the reality of Indian cricket, and there's no point pretending otherwise. I think it may be best not to pick another former India star (especially a recent one like Sehwag) as the coach; instead go for a guy like Tom Moody or Lalchand Rajput, who will never be competing with Kohli for the press narrative about the Indian team.

The reality is that the Indian cricket team captain is given enormous say. However, in most other countries, the coach/technical director, etc. are the boss. The players have to follow their orders. People like Lebron James, etc. can cause coaches to be fired or their own coaches installed. However, after that coach has been hired, the coach is still the boss. In this case, I do not think Kumble went out to the press. We never heard about it. The first I heard was when it was said that the captain did not want Kumble. That seems to have been leaked by Kohli or obtained by someone who heard Kohli say things inadvertently. I have not heard anyone say that Kumble leaked these issues. I guess given that we cannot drop Kohli, we have to do away with Kumble. That is the same that would happen with Lebron, etc. But the board should clearly demarcate whose decision it is to do what. Maybe the coach gets the final say wrt who will play and the captain gets the final say about field placements and bowling selections ... I would like Tom Moody to be the coach. I think he has a smart cricketing brain.

[Atithee]

If that's what it takes to get Shastri off the commentary team, then so be it. I doubt Ganguly would support him.

Some more updates and Ravi Shastri is back in as candidate for Team India coach.

[Ram]

If that's what it takes to get Shastri off the commentary team, then so be it. I doubt Ganguly would support him.

Some more updates and Ravi Shastri is back in as candidate for Team India coach.

second that.

My org structure would be Batting coach, Bowling Coach, Fielding coach ...reporting to a Manager (a guy with a small pouch under his armpit and umbrella in the other hand) for facilities and to the captain for technicalities and scheduling.
This super coach is making it too top heavy. Cricket unlike Basketball doesn't need a second to second strategising while the game is on. We never had high profile coaches in the past. Each cricketer has his own personal coach whom he goes back to correct flaws when he is not playing for the country. Bedi did this "strict officer" discipline role when he went to NZ many summers back as a coach and earned ire of the team then.

[PKBasu]

prasen9, Basketball and Football (Soccer) are sports where coaches play a big role and captains are irrelevant. In Cricket, the captain is far more important as all decisions are made by him on the field. That is why a coach who melts into the background, but works closely behind the scenes with the captain, is ideal.

Kumble made it publicly clear that he backed Pujara on his slow scoring in tests (contradicting the captain) and his backing of Kuldeep (against the captain's preference) was also very publicly known. I don't think those should have cost him his job as head coach, but they went a bit beyond the line that most test Cricket coaches don't cross.