Thursday, Jun 23, 2016

Dubai: Former India captain and India’s highest wicket taker in Test cricket Anil Kumble will be the next Team India coach.

He has been appointed for a one-year term.

The four-man committee made up of former Test cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman and Sanjay Jagdale as co-ordinator of the committee, appointed Kumble after interviewing five top contenders for the post.

Ravi Shastri, the erstwhile team director, Tom Moody, Lalchand Rajput and Praveen Amre were also in the fray.

It is understood that Kumble, who is the world’s third highest wicket taker with 619 Test wickets behind Mutttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, won the post due to his excellent blueprint and his vision for Indian cricket.

As a cricketer he was among the few who could balance his cricket and studies and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

His presentation during the interview before the committee gave him the nod over others, it is believed.

The BCCI had earlier indicated that the Indian coach would be announced on Friday but decided to make the announcement quickly as the committee took their decision early.

Though there was talk that Shastri may be appointed as batting coach, Anurag Thakur, the president of the BCCI, who made the announcement through a press conference in Dharmasala, said that the names of batting, bowling and support staff for the team will be announced later. 


First assignment

Kumble’s first assignment will be the four-Test tour of West Indies starting in the first week of July.

Though Kumble have never coached an international team, one of the requisites mentioned as requirement for becoming the Team India coach, his credentials as a player and shrewd captain made the committee vote in favour of him. He had mentored Royal Challengers first and now Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. He is also the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Committee.

Forty-five-old Kumble also holds the world record of taking 10 wickets in an innings when he bowled India to victory over Pakistan in New Delhi. Though he received India’s captaincy very late in his career, he captained India in 14 matches from November 2007 before retiring from cricket a year later. He also served as president of Karnataka State Cricket Association in November 2010, served as chairman of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and also headed the BCCI’s technical committee.

Incidentally, Sandeep Patil, the chairman of the Indian selection committee who had also applied for the post is understood to have not even been called for the interview by the committee. Many were of the opinion that Shastri may clinch the post due to the support from Indian captain Virat Kohli. In fact, Kohli had even publicly raved about Shastri’s contributions in reviving the team. Fifty-seven applicants had applied for the coach’s job.

Commenting on his appointment, Kumble said: “It’s a great honour to be back in the Indian dressing room in a different role. It’s a huge responsibility, ready to take this role. Coaches come later, it’s always players first. Strategy will be to win.”

By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer

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