New Delhi: Ahead of the much-anticipated ICC Champions Trophy title defending campaign in England, Team India were struck by a major blow over BCCI's press release inviting applications for the post of Head Coach. While the Indian cricket board didn't go to depth in their view of Jumbo's tenure, it straight out raises ample questions over whether BCCI is unhappy with him.


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Elected as the Head Coach of the Men in Blue, Kumble took charge over the mentorship last summer, prior to the West Indies series. Having won five successful home Test series, India retained their No. 1 Test ranking spot. Over his 12 months tenure, the leggie formed a good rapport with Virat Kolhli and the rest of the team, but despite all the good things that have happened thus far, the Champions Trophy tournament will mark the end of his one-year contract as coach.


Regardless of the achievement, BCCI released a statement calling for applications for the Head Coach and the last date for which will be May 31. The applicants will be interviwed and the final results will be declared by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.



End of contract for Kumble doesn't deprive him of a re-application, and he will be the first candidate for the post after getting a direct entry into the interview process on grounds of being the present coach.


"To ensure a fair and completely transparent process, a nominee of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) will oversee the entire process along with the Cricket Advisory Committee," the BCCI release stated.


With such an announcement, one question is bound to come up – whether the board was happy with Kumble? Rule says that if a coach performs according to the expectations of the board, he stands a chance for an automatic extension of tenure. But such was not the case for Kumble. Well, quite a lot of reasons have come forth standing against the former Indian cricketer.


BCCI's announcement makes it clear that the top brass has not exactly been happy with the legendary leg-spinner. The reason being his aggressive stance asking for a massive hike in central contracts for players and his own salary. Just a couple of days back, Kumble along with Virat on skype had presented a proposal to COA and BCCI over 150 per cent hike in salary of Grade A players. Apart from that, he asked for an 30 per cent increment in his own salary and hike in the salary of the support stuff too. Of late, he has even asked for added staffs.


Thus speculation is that Kumble's stance on players' pay hike and the manner of his demands have not gone down well with BCCI. As per Indian board's constitution, the coach or the captain attends selection meetings but he doesn't have a vote. The constitution needs to be revamped and the board are unlikely to consider most of Kumble's suggestions. Kumble's increased demands for his team seems to have annoyed some of the senior members of the board – as per reports.


"Kumble is bargaining for himself as well as the players. Fair enough but tomorrow if BCCI decides to replace him, he will not be in a position to bargain. Some of his demands have been simply inexplicable," a BCCI official told PTI.


Another reason behind this huge step could be Kumble's interference in the BCCI-CoA hustle and bustle over Team India's participation in the ICC Champions Trophy. The Bengaluru-based leg spinner had in fact written a letter to CoA over the same.


 



What has been quite a surprise for fans and cricket analysts is the timing of the announcement. Just when the team landed in England for the tournament, BCCI statement was released. "Obviously BCCI could have waited till the end of the Champions Trophy to invite applications. But then no one should take his place for granted,"a source close to PTI added.


While most of the cricketing universe feel this has been an insult to the spin legend and that Team India could face dire consequences due to this step, BCCI is yet to unveil the truth behind it.


(With PTI inputs)