Bishan Singh Bedi lashes out at BCCI, feels 'sorry' for Kumble

What’s the story?

Former India spinner Bishan Singh Bedi has once again come out all guns blazing in the criticism of the BCCI, slamming the cricket governing body for allowing a situation to develop wherein the coach of the side had to unceremoniously step down.

Bedi empathized with Anil Kumble, the former India coach, who tendered his resignation on June 22, and said that he felt ‘sorry’ for the leg-spinner.

“In this particular case, I feel sorry for Kumble. He is not given his fair due. If this can happen to Kumble, with the performance that he has had as a coach, can you imagine what is in store for who is stepping into his shoes?” Bedi questioned.

After the coach’s resignation, a certain section of the media and the fans have been up in arms against India captain Virat Kohli, with some having gone to the extent of calling him brash, arrogant, and not fit to lead the Indian side.

Bedi, for one, feels that the situation and the way everything panned out could have been avoided, much in line with Sourav Ganguly’s comments wherein the former India captain had said that the Kumble-Kohli issue was not handled well.

“I feel it was (the) most avoidable situation. It is not between who is (the) boss on the field and who is boss off the field. They both serve in the game in their own capacity. The need to agree to disagree is seldom followed.

“We are all grown up adults and we can have a difference of opinion. But we cannot have different path,” the former cricketer said.

In case you didn’t know..

Anil Kumble resigned from the post of India coach on July 22, citing the ‘reservations’ that the captain had with his methods of coaching as the reason behind the decision.

The BCCI had, in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, advertised the post of India coach on May 25 and had initially set a deadline of May 31 for the applications against the advertisement.

It was around the same time that media reports of a rift between the captain and the coach of the Indian team had surfaced, and both the timing of advertising the post – apart from the necessity of it, given Kumble’s stellar record as coach – as well as the incapacity on the BCCI’s part to handle the issue well was questioned.

Post the Champions Trophy, even as the BCCI had confirmed to the media that Kumble would tour the West Indies along with the team, the 44-year-old decided to not renew his contract that expired on June 20 and not apply for the post either.

Ravi Shastri has been assumed to be the front-runner for the job

Details

Slamming the BCCI for not handling the issue well, Bedi questioned the credentials of the officials at the helm with regard to the Lodha Panel reforms.

“You have allowed this to develop in the first place. Who allowed this? They (the BCCI) allowed. They are disqualified people, disqualified as far as Lodha panel is concerned, these BCCI officials,” he said.

In a retort to Ganguly’s comments of the issue not being handled well, Bedi questioned as to who was it behind such a treatment being meted out to the issue. It was the BCCI and its officials, in his opinion.

“Who has handled it badly? What message are you trying to convey? Who is it who has handled it badly? That is important.”

What’s next?

India are playing the West Indies in a five-match ODI series without a formal head coach, with Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar present in respective capacities of batting and fielding coaches.

The BCCI has announced that a new coach would be picked before the team embarks on the tour to Sri Lanka – for 3 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 1 T20I – following which the fresh applications for the post were invited and the deadline for the same was extended to July 9.

Author’s take

Keeping the ego clashes and the blame games aside, it is quite unequivocal that the BCCI failed on its part to keep the dressing room issues confined behind the walls, and also in terms of resolving the issue without the kind of drama that prevailed.

If media reports were to be believed, the issue between the captain and the coach was a long-standing one and if indeed that was the case, questioned are bound to be asked as to why were the issues not resolved earlier, say after the conclusion of the 4^th Test against Australia, which effectively concluded India’s home season.

Also, the knee-jerk reaction to Kumble’s resignation and the fresh invitation for applications would make those who applied under the original deadlines skeptical about the BCCI’s uniformity in terms of governance and the consistency of the recruitment process.

So far, amongst the who’s who of cricket, Virender Sehwag, Ravi Shastri, Lalchand Rajput, and Doda Ganesh amongst Indians, and Tom Moody and Richard Pybus amongst foreign professionals, have been the ones to apply for the job.