CoA chief Vinod Rai plays down coaches' exit

Vinod Rai

Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai yesterday played down the recent trend of senior players influencing the future of coaches in Indian cricket, saying "there was nothing new in it". Indian women's cricket team coach Tushar Arothe's stint ended after his position became untenable due to alleged differences with some of the senior players, including T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who had protested against his training methods. This is the second time during the CoA tenure that a national coach has stepped down after players' revolt. Last year, men's team head coach Anil Kumble resigned after his much-publicised differences with captain Virat Kohli.

"This has been going since the time of Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly. This is nothing new," Rai told PTI after a COA meeting here today. Both Kumble and Arothe did a good job but could not continue because a few influential players wanted their ouster. While the captains had their way in Kumble and Arothe's case, Ganguly was removed as skipper when Chappell was coach before the Australian was forced to step down himself after losing the trust of the players. Kumble's resignation came in the wake of reports claiming rifts between him and Kohli, and just two days after India's embarrassing loss to Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy final last summer. Even as Kumble chose to stay silent on his controversial stint with the team and especially his rapport with skipper Kohli, Arothe blasted the senior players' attitude.

Arothe's public rant did not go well with the CoA, also comprising Diana Edulji. Both Rai and Edulji confirmed that former India off-spinner Ramesh Powar has taken over on an interim basis and a permanent coach will be appointed after the July 20 application deadline. BCCI office-bearers and technical committee chairman Sourav Ganguly will meet in Kolkata on July 22 to discuss the board's stance on its cricketers being dope-tested. The BCCI has so far refused to come under the purview of the National-Anti Doping Agency and tests its cricketers through a private agency. However, a meeting has finally been organised with the World Anti-Doping Agency, putting additional pressure on the ICC to make BCCI NADA compliant. Another issue up for discussion in the meeting will be the participation of outstation domestic players in state leagues like the Tamil Nadu Premier League.

The Supreme Court recently allowed the TNPL to go ahead minus the 16 outstation players who were to take part in the league. "We will consider allowing outstation players in various state leagues based on their IPL experience. If they are not regulars in the IPL, it makes sense for them to go ahead and play in state leagues. But if you are an IPL regular and an outstation player, you cannot play. Anyway, a player can take part in maximum of two leagues," said the BCCI official. With the last BCCI SGM being deemed invalid, it remains to be seen whether the CoA will approve of the scheduled meeting in Kolkata.

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