What’s the Story?
If a report in The Times of India is to be believed then, then the former head coach of the Indian Cricket Team Anil Kumble gave the players an earful post the team’s defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy on Sunday.
India were humbled by 180 runs by their arch-rivals in the marquee clash at The Oval and Kumble clearly was not amused by the team’s efforts in a game as important as the one played on Sunday.
It is learnt that the players clearly were not happy either with the coach’s words and once again addressed their unhappiness to captain Virat Kohli, stating the 46-year-old’s ‘overbearing attitude’ on them.
In case you didn’t know...
On Tuesday evening, as the Indian cricketing team were getting ready to board their flight to the West Indies, Kumble resigned as the coach of the side and did not travel with the side to the Caribbean.
His announcement came just a few days after the Committee of Administrators head Vinod Rai had said that the former leg-spinner would be at the helm for the tour of West Indies, but clearly, Kumble had had enough.
The heart of the matter
It is further learnt that post the defeat against Pakistan in the final, Kumble held one-on-one sessions with certain players and was not happy with the way the bowlers had fared in the game and apparently told some of the bowlers that their efforts were poor if compared to some of the greats of Indian cricket.
India conceded 338 runs on the big day, which proved to be a bit too much for the batsmen to get in order to retain the title they won in 2013 and in particular, the spinning duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja went for plenty at the hands of the Pakistan batsmen.
What’s next?
It now remains to be seen if any further confirmation on this episode comes soon, as if it indeed was the case that Kumble had a showdown with some of the players, then he will need to speak out who were those cricketers, with whom he did not mince any words post the final.
Author’s take
If indeed it was the case that Kumble had a showdown with the bowlers post the final, then they did deserve some amount of criticism for their performance. India’s bowling unit in each of the Group stages matches, barring the one against Sri Lanka, had worked splendidly together, but on the big day failed to deliver and coach, on his part, has rightly had a word with them.
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