Sourav Ganguly Gives A Piece Of His Mind To Virat Kohli – Anil Kumble

With the Indian cricket team in England battling for their title defense of the ICC Champions Trophy, the timing of various news breaks seems to have gone terribly wrong. At a time when cricket should have been the prime focus, Indian cricket seems to be drowning in a pool of controversies.

The BCCI and the Indian Cricket team have been marred with controversies of their own. Whether it is the BCCI- CoA battle, resignation of CoA appointed member Ramchandra Guha or everything that has been surrounding the procedure of selection of Indian Coach, and as news pieces have it an apparent rift between the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble. All this seems to have miffed the former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Ganguly is currently in England for a commentary stint for the Champions Trophy is also a member of Cricket advisory committee along with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman who have been given the task of selecting the team’s coach.

There were speculations that Ganguly would be meeting Indian skipper Virat  Kohli and other members of the Indian team, to discuss and seek their views on coach Anil Kumble. However Ganguly has denied any such meeting;

“This morning, I’ve been at the ground since 8 O’Clock. I’m supposed to have spoken to players, spoken to Virat. I’ve not done it one bit, and neither am I keen to,” as Ganguly was quoted saying by Wisden India.

When he was quizzed about the CAC’s plan to decide upon the team’s coach, Ganguly was unsure and said that nothing has been thought over that matter; “Don’t know; we’ll see what happens. You need to hear from the right people. You need to hear from them, what is it, what they want and what’s the way forward. It’s too early at this stage. You’re in the middle of a Champions Trophy. I don’t even think about all these things.” he said.

Ganguly seemed to be miffed with the controversy plague, and when asked about his views on the apparent rift and all the news surrounding the row he said the people involved were responsible enough to deal with it in a professional manner;

“Just deal with it. You’re a name, you’re captain of India, you’re coach of India, you’ll have to deal with it. Just keep quiet and play the game. Whether there is uncertainty (over the coach’s future) or not I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see. All of us can talk. But there are two exceptional cricketers: Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble. They’re responsible cricketers; they know what they’re doing.”

When Ganguly was quizzed further for the possible reason that could have caused the row, and since the two involved are strong personalities and big cricketing names, could it be a clash of ego, he shrugged the allegation saying “Yeah, but that’s with everything in life. Sometimes small things just get blown out of proportion. If two of you are sitting in the media box discussing players, each has a different opinion. Doesn’t mean you don’t get along.”

He suggested that the controversy should be dealt in a professional manner, and also cited the example of Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Everybody faces controversy. You just have to deal with it and move on. That’s life.You should not worry about it. Professionals find a way. Look at (Cristiano) Ronaldo. He’s in controversies every week but he still comes out and takes Real Madrid to the Champions League final.” as he was quoted saying by Wisden India.

Well, though Ganguly seems to be unhappy with all that is going around he sure has a wise advice. Hopefully the controversy pool doesn’t affect team India’s performance.