Bitter exit? Anil Kumble quits as Team India coach

Anil Kumble

Team India coach Anil Kumble has stepped down from his post with media speculation rife about there being a rift between him and skipper Virat Kohli.

Kumble's announcement comes just one day after it was reported that Kohli had conveyed "strong reservations" over Kumble continuing as coach to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Also Read: Virat Kohli's 'strong reservations' about Anil Kumble leaves CAC in fix

With India's ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign ending with their loss to arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, the Indian cricket team on Tuesday left for the Caribbean soil to participate in a limited-overs series.

Kumble though didn't accompany the players with the reason being given as an ICC meet that he needed to attend.

Also Read: Angry Virat Kohli slams media for spreading rumours about rift with Anil Kumble

Kumble it was said needed to stay back for the ICC 'Annual Conference' as he's the chairman of the Cricket Committee in-charge of taking a call on laws and regulations of the game.

The ICC Annual Conference started on Monday and will continue till June 23. Kumble's Cricket Committee meeting will be held on June 22.

"Yes, chief coach Anil Kumble is staying back for the ICC Meeting. The team is flying off to Barbados today," a team source confirmed the development without commenting whether he will join the team at all.

It is being widely perceived in the BCCI that in the meeting between Kohli and Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman - the skipper made it clear that his relationship with the coach has reached a dead end.

But now, the reason has turned out to be different.

Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble

During the entire Champions Trophy, there was hardly any communication between Kohli and Kumble during the practice session with chief coach mostly keeping to himself or giving some practice to the bowlers.

Interstingly, during his tenure as India head coach, Kumble led the team to victories in all tournaments in the last year, that is before the Champions Trophy debacle.

Kohli had recently dismissed the speculated rift with Kumble, stating that there were "no problems" with the chief coach and the entire episode was nothing but rumours.

"There are a lot speculations and lot of things being written by people without actually being part of the change room which is quite strange. There are no problems whatsoever," Kohli was curt while addressing the media ahead of the Champions Trophy opener against arch-rivals Pakistan.

When the question was rephrased by another scribe about how his journey with Kumble has been through the past year, he answered with an equally deadpan expression. "It's been really good. The whole journey has been good," he said.

Former opening batsman Virender Sehwag is the frontrunner for the job of the national cricket team's head coach. Sehwag, who was director of cricket operations of Indian Premier League (IPL) side King XI Punjab, is among the six candidates to have applied for the job.

Virender Sehwag

It is learnt that there are two other Indians in the fray -- former national team manager Lalchand Rajput and ex-India pacer Doda Ganesh have also applied. Among the foreign applicants are Tom Moody, former Sri Lanka coach and a previous applicant for the India post, and Englishman Richard Pybus, who had previously coached Pakistan.

The BCCI had earlier stated that it was calling upon interested candidates for the position of head coach of the national team and that to "ensure a fair and completely transparent process" a nominee of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) will oversee the process of selecting the best candidate.

Now is time to wait and see who is the 'interim' coach of the Indian team for the West Indies, where they play five One-day Internationals (ODI) and a solitary T20 International.