Kohli, Kumble, going, not going, & Mr Guha

Birmingham : Who will survive, Anil Kumble or Virat Kohli? That’s the question the nation is asking -well, not really, only the diehard cricket fans and breathless TV anchors and reporters are asking this question. However, they’ve succeeded in keeping this issue burning. Back in India, there are dire predictions about the future of Kumble – it’s being speculated he isn’t willing to continue, that he’ll soon resign, perhaps during this very tournament.
The open letter by Ramchandra Guha, the historian and Committee of Administrators (COA) member who has resigned, has added fuel to the fire. Guha has asked a very significant question: why was the process of appointing the new coach started just on the eve of the Champions Trophy?
“Clearly, the issue has been handled in an extremely insensitive and unprofessional manner by the BCCI CEO and office-bearers, with the COA, by its silence and inaction, unfortunately being complicit in this regard,” he wrote. “In case due process had to be followed since Kumble’s original appointment was only for a year, why was this not done during April and May, when the IPL was on? If indeed the captain and the Head Coach were not getting along, why was not this attended to as soon as the Australia series was over in March?”
Guha’s comments give credence to the widely-held opinion that there’s something wrong in the team, in COA, in BCCI. On Ground Zero here, two days before the match against Pakistan, there was business as usual.
Yes, it did rain, and yes, the Indians did try to train behind purdah – closed training, they call it, with no eye allowed to have a look at their methods.
After a bit of negotiation, the team management agreed to let the gathered media come in and watch them train. If originally, the management had plans of organising a bare-knuckled fight between Kumble and Kohli behind the purdah, it had to be cancelled because now the mediapersons were there, watching with eager anticipation for the captain and coach to indulge in a bit of boxing or kung-fu.