In his recently published book, former Committee of Administrators head Vinod Rai wrote that Anil Kumble was upset about not getting a contract extension with the national team and felt he was treated “unfairly” but then skipper Virat Kohli opined that he was too much of a disciplinarian and the team members weren’t happy. 

In the book titled ‘Not Just A Nightwatchman: My Innings with BCCI’, Rai has written about the issues that he dealt with during his 33-month tenure.

One of them was when Virat Kohli complained about the breakdown of relationship with Kumble.

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For those unversed, Kumble, nicknamed Jumbo, was handed a one-year contract in 2016 and announced his resignation publicly just after Champions Trophy the following year. 

“In my conversations with the captain and team management, it was conveyed that Kumble was too much of a disciplinarian and hence the team members were not too happy with him,” Rai has written in his book.

“I had spoken to Virat Kohli on the issue and he did mention that the younger members of the team felt intimidated by the way he worked with them.”

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Rai reveals that the then Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman met and decided to recommend Kumble’s re-appointment as the head coach.

However, Kumble wasn’t re-appointed and he felt that he had been unfairly treated.

“We had long conversations with Kumble after he had returned from the UK. He was obviously upset about the manner in which the entire episode had panned out. He felt he had been unfairly treated and a captain or team should not be given so much importance,” Rai has written in the book. 

“It was the duty of the coach to bring discipline and professionalism into the team and as a senior, his views should have been respected by the players.”

Rai also wrote that Kumble felt that more credence was given to following protocols and processes and less emphasis was laid on how the team performed under his guidance.

“He was disappointed that we had given such importance to following process, and that, in view of the team’s performance over the previous year, he deserved an extension.”