The Mithali Raj-Ramesh Powar controversy seems to have stirred up an old storm in the Indian cricketing circle courtesy CoA member Diana Edulji who has come out and said that Virat Kohli forced rules to be broken while selecting Ravi Shastri as the coach of the men's cricket team.
Anil Kumble was the former coach of the Indian cricket team and had to step down following a rather public entourage that brought to light the mismanagement in Indian cricket.
It was believed that captain, Kohli had "reservations" regarding Kumble coaching style. With regards to the differences between the captain and then coach, the CAC (comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman) met with Kohli on behest of the CoA. The legendary trio had asked Kohli to sort out the matter amicably with Kumble, but that did not happen.
This happened around the time Kumble's contract was up but by virtue of being the current coach, he was a direct entry as one of the six candidates to become the next coach.
The CAC, who was responsible for selecting the coach of the national team, informed the BCCI that Kumble was their preferred choice regardless. But the BCCI extended the candidate application deadline and that is when Shastri applied for the position. Kumble, being his gracious self, stepped down and consequently Shastri was selected as the coach of the team till the 2019 World Cup.
Now, in light of the saga surrounding the selection of the women's team coach, Edulji has come out and said that the entire process of selecting Shastri was dubious.
"Virat did not accede to Kumble continuing in spite of CAC saying so then why not these two players get what they feel is best for the team," Edulji wrote to Rai in an email on Monday, reports ESPN Cricinfo.
"I see nothing wrong in women cricketers writing emails reg the coach. They were truthful in expressing their views unlike Virat who frequently sent sms's to the CEO on which you acted and there was a change in the Coach."
"There also I had objected and my dissent is recorded when the timelines were extended for someone to apply as he didn't apply in time. Mr. Kumble a legend in his own right was subjected to loss of face and made to look like a villain, he was gracious enough to move on for which I respect him. There also rules were broken and I had raised objections back then."
Edulji's revelations come as part of her disagreement with fellow CoA member Vinod Rai over the appointment of an ad-hoc committee to pick the India women's team head coach.
While T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana requested the CoA and BCCI to continue with the interim coach Ramesh Powar, Rai said players cannot pick coaching staff through votes.
"Yes- there were differences between Virat and Kumble. As a consequence of that Kumble stepped back," Rai responded on the matter.
