Published: May 28, 2017, 03:56 PM (IST)
Edited: May 28, 2017, 03:56 PM (IST)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) make it a point to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. The issue of the coach hiring process for the national side post the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 came under heavy criticism from the Lodha Committee as well. The committee said that BCCI could have given Anil Kumble an automatic extension after the stupendous success he had with the side over the last year. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the secretary of the Lodha Committee, slammed the BCCI calling their methods ‘silly.’
“It’s extremely peculiar that administrators, who have to comply with the Supreme Court judgment, can disobey and continue in office while insisting that a silly little contract they have come up with has to be adhered to by coaches and cricketers. Clearly a different law applies for the lawless,” Gopal Sankaranarayanan, secretary of the Lodha Committee, told TOI. ALSO READ: Anil Kumble, Virat Kohli not on same page on issue of pay hike, claim reports
Saying Kumble does not deserve this kind of treatment, he added, “Kumble does not deserve this kind of treatment. This isn’t the right way to treat your national coach. One year coaching tenure is a ludicrous thing to do. For a national coach, year-to-year appointment isn’t the way forward. Who will come for one year tenure? You can see that this is done deliberately by the board officials. You can’t be giving a piece meal to your national coach. The next contract should not be for a year.”
Kumble is known to be close to the Lodha committee and reportedly has good relations with the Committee of Administrators (CoA). He has also been vocal about the payment issue. Praising the former leg-spinner and national captain, Sankaranarayanan further said: “Kumble has stood up for the players and pointed out that they don’t get a penny from the ICC while it all goes into unaccounted pockets. Clearly people are unhappy with that.”
Kumble did not make bigwigs in the BCCI happy when he had voiced his opinion of India playing the Champion Trophy when the board and ICC were locked in a tussle over revenue sharing. However, BCCI maintains that the coach selection process is about playing it safe. A BCCI official told TOI the same bunch of people would be pointing fingers towards the board if the new coach appointment process was not followed.
