Former India captain Rahul Dravid hinted on Sunday (October 29) he was unhappy with the treatment meted out to former India coach Anil Kumble, who stepped down from the high-profile post after "untenable" relationship with captain Virat Kohli earlier this year.
'Unfortunate episode'
Dravid called the Kohli-Kumble spat "an unfortunate episode" before conceding that players are always more powerful than coaches across the globe. The 44-year-old even added he would not be surprised if he gets sacked as India A and U-19 coach in the future.
"I think the whole thing got played out in the media which is very, very unfortunate for Anil and not fair on him at all. So, what's the reality of it and what happens behind closed doors is not something I'm privy to, so I can't comment directly. But it was definitely an unfortunate episode, especially to someone like Anil who has been an absolute legend of the game, someone who has done more to win Test matches for India than anybody I know," Dravid said in Bengaluru, as quoted by the "cricbuzz".
He added: "And he had a successful year as coach as well. But the fact is that it should never have played out they way that it did, publicly.
"See, coaches get sacked, the first thing you know when you stop playing and become a coach is that some day you are going to get sacked. That's the reality. As an India A and Under-19 coach, I know that someday I'm going to get the boot."
BCCI, Kohli let Kumble down
Notably, the much-publicised strain in the relationship between captain Kohli and coach Kumble rocked Indian cricket right after the "Men in Blue" lost the Champions Trophy final to Pakistan in June.
The legendary leg-spinner, who had a successful one-year tenure with the team, resigned from his post after the Champions Trophy even as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) accepted his application for the post.
The BCCI got their timing wrong when they invited applications for the head coach role just before the start of India's Champions Trophy campaign, thereby fuelling speculations of unrest in the dressing room. Speculations were rife about a strain in the relationship between the two iconic figures in the team, but both of them remained mum until Kumble opened up in his resignation letter.
It later emerged that Kohli and some of his teammates were not happy with Kumble's "overbearing" nature in the dressing room. Officials close to the developments also revealed that the relationship was "Irreparable" even as the former coach had the backing of Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which played a key role in bringing him on board in 2016.
