The coach-captain saga may have become big and controversial but Virat Kohli, the captain of team India, has decided to deal with the matter with utmost restraint.
On Thursday, Kohli was speaking in a pre-match press conference in Trinidad and here’s what he said,
“Anil bhai has expressed his views and he has taken a decision to step out and we all respect that decision. It’s something that has happened right after the tournament.”
Kohli is of the opinion that whatever happens in the dressing room should remain in the dressing room.
“One thing for sure is that I have had 11 press conferences that have happened during the Champions Trophy. We have created a culture over the last 3-4 years that whatever happens in the change room, we have tried to maintain the sanctity of the change room throughout. That is what the whole team believes in. For us that is paramount.”
Making his point clearer, he continued,
“Like I said, for me what’s most important is to maintain the sanctity of the change room and what happens in the change room is something that’s very sacred and private to all of us, and something that I would not express in details in a public scenario. As I said, his point of view is out there and we respect that decision.”
The leg-spinner decided to resign when his one-year contract was not renewed by BCCI but on the contrary, it invited applications for the post. However, BCCI wanted Kumble to remain the head coach for the West Indian series but he resigned just as the Indian team departed for West Indies and also made his reasons for resigning public by tweeting them.
The Indian team performed very well under the guidance of Kumble as it won 10 test matches out of 13 while 2 were draw and in 1, the team got defeated. Not only this, a test series was also won in West Indies. Anil Kumble’s contract was till Tuesday and few hours after submitting his resignation, he tweeted, “The captain had reservations with my ‘style’… In light of these ‘reservations’ I believe it is best I hand over this responsibility to whomever the CAC and BCCI deem fit.”
According to sources, Kohli was adamant and “not ready to budge” from his stance regarding Anil Kumble and “coach-captain relationship was ‘irreparable’”.
India will be playing 5 ODIs in West Indies starting from Friday; however, the focus has now shifted from on-field game to off-field game.