Harbhajan Singh feels Anil Kumble is going to bring a lot of good to Indian cricket

What’s the story?

Harbhajan Singh has come out in defence of his former teammate Anil Kumble, as reports of the latter having rifts with the Indian captain, Virat Kohli, have been flying fast and high in the last few days.

“Only present players will be able to tell what his relations with Anil Bhai are. In my 15 years of playing with him, there has been no instance of any fight with him and he’s the best bowling mind in cricket, he’s always there to help. He’s been brilliant and he has played a major role in making me what I am today and I would like to thank him for that,” Singh said.

The Mumbai Indians player was present at the Aaj Tak Salaam Cricket 2017 conclave and sprung right to support the Indian coach immediately after being asked about the same.

In case you didn’t know...

Stories about Kohli and Kumble not seeing eye-to-eye have been springing out of the grapevine in the last week. Reports say that the captain and the coach of the Indian team are not on the same page and a probability of a rift between in the two is high.

The incision in their relationship apparently goes right back to the fourth test between India and Australia this year, when Kohli allegedly wasn’t made aware of the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI.

The details

Since the former leg-spinner has taken up the coaching reins of Team India, he has helped them win plenty of accolades. The Indian test team reached the ICC Number 1 spot and displayed complete dominance against England, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Australia.

Talking about the same, Singh said that the Indian coach responds to hard work more than just talent. He also showed faith in Kumble’s prowess as a coach and also spoke about his results last year as a proof of the same.

The off-spinner believed that Kumble with all his experience and pedigree has done wonders for the team and the fact that he is a hard-working bloke only bodes well for the team not only in the current context but also in the future.

What’s next:

Kumble’s contract with BCCI will end right after the Champions Trophy.

BCCI’s cricket advisory committee (CAC) which includes Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly will once again look into the applicants and take a final call on the next man to assume the mantle of the coach of Indian cricket.

Also, BCCI is willing to step in and resolve the issues between the coach and captain. This is a welcome move considering the team is all set to defend its Champions Trophy title in England.

Author’s take

While Harbhajan’s intervention might skew one in Kumble’s favour, the eruption of such news at the time of something as major as the Champions Trophy is bad news in itself and does not paint a healthy picture.

The last time an Indian team was unhappy with the coach before a big tournament, it lost to Bangladesh and couldn’t get past even the group stage i.e. the 2007 ICC World Cup. The much-maligned Greg Chappel had to face the brunt of not only the board but also of the general public.

One can only hope that this current ‘chaos’ does not snowball into something similar to the previous embarrassment.

India’s first match of the tournament is against Pakistan of 4th of June and the team cannot afford to have doubts, inhibitions and/or grudges amongst itself.

The best way to go in this scenario would be for Kohli to follow Singh’s advice, where he insists that anyone who has an issue with Kumble should go and talk to him about it directly.