[srishiva]

I hope Kohli starts performing on the field. He hasn't played well for some time now including series against England, IPL and even in champions trophy he was very scratchy and not confident at all. Beating BD and SA and thinking they are holding their head high is false pride.

[pratyush6]

I would have loved to have someone like Rahul Dravid be the coach, but now I think we admire and respect the man too much for him to be a 'Yes Man' or a lame duck. And not for a moment anyone doubts Kohli's talent, he is among the top batsmen along with Amla, Root, KW & ABD; but this attitude of my way or the highway does not augur well. I hope some sense is instilled into him, he is far too good a player for India to lose.
A lot of people have commented on Pandya, but I find his bowling to be useless, an odd performance does not make him a good bowler. His hitting though is quite something and I hope he is persisted with. It would be interesting to see if he can finish games like MSD of the old.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

I would have loved to have someone like Rahul Dravid be the coach,

I think he had mentioned in the past that he isn't interested in becoming coach of the senior team. He's happy coaching the Junior Team which i think is better for Indian Cricket.

A lot of people have commented on Pandya

That guy has some spunk about him, atleast he will go down fighting is what i can gather looking at his last performance. He's miles better than Stuart Binny. His bowling has improved a bit, earlier he used to be bowl too many short balls, now his length has become a lot fuller.

[Chetan_Rao]

Your best individual contributor won't necessarily make the best manager/leader, but that's a lesson Indians as a whole refuse to learn.

Look at India's second favorite pastime, IT Services

[Sawyer]

Tendulkar was self aware enough to realise this and step down; Kohli will not do so, I reckon.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Your best individual contributor won't necessarily make the best manager/leader, but that's a lesson Indians as a whole refuse to learn.

Look at India's second favorite pastime, IT Services

So, we are believing in what Kohli thinks ?

I have seen real pain in the xxx managers being recruited to manage some critical areas. (and later laid off too ) Its the company (not sure who in this case of our cricket team) who decides who it needs to get what results it wants.

[Eddy]

I think we are unnecessarily blaming Kohli without knowing his side of the story. I am sure there would have been (or would be) dissent shown by other players on Kumble's ouster had it only been Kohlis fault.

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I think we are unnecessarily blaming Kohli without knowing his side of the story. I am sure there would have been (or would be) dissent shown by other players on Kumble's ouster had it only been Kohlis fault.

Dissent against Kohli and support Kumble? I don't think anybody has the guts to do that and risk their cricketing careers. Kohli is the boss (and will remain boss for some time) and if he doesn't like Kumble you better go with it, unless you really have some alternative career plans.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by srishiva

....Its the company (not sure who in this case of our cricket team) who decides who it needs to get what results it wants.

That line was always blurred with Indian cricket, letting players become bigger than the team. I'll not take names (touchy topic) but plenty of players have always influenced decisions they had no business with, and stayed well beyond their sporting utility because nobody in the administration dared ask them to leave, for a variety of reasons.

Compare that to more professionally run cricketing boards (not saying they're perfect, mind) where you keep your spot based on your performance alone, not your name, apparent 'talent' or your past laurels.

Originally Posted by Eddy

I think we are unnecessarily blaming Kohli without knowing his side of the story. I am sure there would have been (or would be) dissent shown by other players on Kumble's ouster had it only been Kohlis fault.

Fair point but the Kumble situation is temporary anyway. The bigger issue is whether Kohli is a natural leader, or was ready for the position when he got it? He appears to have only two modes: aggressive and anonymous, and struggles to adapt course in pressure situations. Against Pakistan for example, someone not familiar with the game would've had a hard time believing he was the captain, not Dhoni.

Given Team India seems to run on reputations and huge egos are involved, we need a calm head who can channel everyone in the same direction. I'm not convinced Kohli is the guy. Personal opinion only, YMMV.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Given Team India seems to run on reputations and huge egos are involved, we need a calm head who can channel everyone in the same direction. I'm not convinced Kohli is the guy. Personal opinion only, YMMV.

I too am not convinced that he is leadership material. He hasn't grown up yet and still tends to throw his toys out of the pram under pressure.

[Eddy]

Hasn't Kohli improved in terms of temperament in the past one year ? I would believe so, hence I am wary of putting all the blame on him for the current situation.

Also, has anyone thought about the timing of the move by Kumble? Just when everyone would be cursing India / Kohli for the loss against Pakistan and the Indian team was travelling so no response possible for a day at least.

[aaggoswami]

This was rather shocking to me :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...w/59255990.cms

From the article:

The BCCI top brass had an inkling that all was not well but they were taken aback when they came to know that captain Virat Kohli and chief coach Anil Kumble were not on talking terms for the "last six months".

Another important thing that has come out in the open was that the Chief Advisory Committee, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, also didn't straightaway give the green light to Kumble's extension.

Post the ICC Champions Trophy final, there were three separate meetings at the Indian team's hotel.

The first was where Kumble met the BCCI top brass and members of CAC followed by Kohli meeting them.
The last and the most "eventful" meeting was when Kohli and Kumble were made to sit across the table.
The talks failed completely as there was no communication.

"The two had stopped talking to each other since December when the England Test series got over.

Regarding the match, I felt bad as we couldn't even give a reasonable fight. The top order sort of surrendered, specially Dhawan and Kohli. Wasn't expecting much later on.

[landcruiser123]

I think this whole Kumble saga should be probed in to let everyone know what's rotten in the system and what needs to be fixed. But knowing how the BCCI functions, I think this is not going to happen until Kohli is 90 years old. (Not a typo; The probe will never happen)

Kumble is a hard task master. I'm sure he's as tough on himself as he is on the players. As a true Gentleman, he hasn't blown the issue out of proportion. He's just released a statement on Twitter when the team was on it's way to WI.

Hope we get a good coach, someone who can guide us till the 2019 WC. Also, we need to win/draw Test series in Australia, England and RSA. This team has surely got potential, we just need the results.

Also, I think India should seriously consider getting a proper bowling coach. Someone like a Zak will do a fine job. Zak's understanding of the game is incredible. He knows how to get wickets in most conditions and also guide our bowlers to exploit the weakness of the batsmen.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Kumble is a hard task master.

As per news report, he scolded the players after the loss in the Champions Trophy. The way they performed what they should have received is this -. Btw, now that Kumble is not coach, he should replace Guha in the COA, will be a good move.

Also, I think India should seriously consider getting a proper bowling coach. Someone like a Zak will do a fine job.

Completely agree with you. He will make an excellent bowling coach, he has a good rapport with most of these players as he's played with a few of them in his career. But from what i read somewhere, he was approached but he quoted a huge sum which BCCI couldn't afford. Atleast the board should consider having him on tours abroad as a bowling consultant.

[Sawyer]

Just appoint Kohli as captain for all formats + coach and be done with it.

Like the US corporations that usually end up having one person as Chairman of the Board and CEO. This either works brilliantly or fails miserably. Most countries have governance norms that do not allow this, because an independent Chairman is expected to provide some balance to the CEO power.