Players first, says Anil Kumble after being appointed Team India’s head coach

Dharamsala: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today named former India skipper Anil Kumble as the head coach of the national cricket team for the next one year.

"BCCI has been very transparent. We fixed a criteria. There was the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) as well. They have gone through the process, interviewed and recommended few names. After discussions with various stakeholders, we have decided that Anil Kumble will be the head coach of the Indian cricket team for the next one year," the cricketing body president Anurag Thakur said here after the BCCI Conclave.

"It is not about Indian or foreign, it is about who is best for the job. I think we have used the services of best players who have served Indian cricket. There was no such limitation that we have to have only an Indian coach. We wanted the best for the Indian team," Thakur added.

The decision was taken after Sourav Ganguly, one of the members of the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) also comprising Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, met Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke at the ongoing cricket conclave here.

Kumble's first assignment with the national team will be the gruelling four-match Test tour to the West Indies next month.

Speaking to media, Kumble said that it is a huge responsibility and that he is ready to take this role.

"Coaches come later, it’s always players first. Strategy will be to win,” Kumble told mediapersons soon after the announcement.

“It's a great honour to be back in Indian dressing room in a different role,” Kumble added.

When asked about his plans, he said, “I have a short and long plan for the upcoming series, but I cannot plan alone; need players to pitch in… need to sit down with Sourav, Sachin, Laxman and Dravid and need to do what is best for Indian cricket.”

A total of 57 applicants had applied for the coach’s job. But the board’s advisory panel trimmed it down to 21 before interviewing the applicants. The panel had interviewed the shortlisted 21 candidates separately for the job and submitted its report to the board on Tuesday. They had also consulted Team India’s limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni and Test captain Virat Kohli before finalising the head coach.

45-year-old Kumble pipped former Team Director Ravi Shastri, Australians Tom Moody and Stuart Law and a host of others to clinch the high-profile position.

Kumble, the highest wicket-taker for India till date and third in the international list behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne, emerged as a front-runner in the last few days even though he has no experience in coaching in the international arena.

Kumble's stint as a mentor with IPL teams such as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians as well as his vast experience as an international cricketer might have tilted the scale in his favour.

The former leg-spinner played 132 Test matches and 271 ODIs in a career spanning close to two decades. Kumble finished his Test career with 619 scalps and accumulated 337 ODI wickets which put his combined tally at 956 in two formats. The leg-spinner was the only bowler after England's Jim Laker to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings.

The BCCI president further said that the names of the other support staff will be announced later.

Explaining the decision to appoint Kumble despite his lack of experience as an international coach, Thakur said the former spinner's record itself is a testimony to his worthiness for the job. The BCCI chief said nonetheless, Kumble's performance would be up for a review after one year.

"He has been a match-winner for India. He has a great record and that speaks for Anil Kumble as far as winning matches for India is concerned. His performance will be reviewed after one year," he said.

Thakur said the decision to appoint Kumble was taken after discussion with all the stakeholders.

"Mr Kumble is a great cricketer. The CAC looked into all applications, they shortlisted a few names. When the names came to us, we discussed with other stakeholders. We take feedback from all stakeholders. We wanted to be more transparent," he said.

BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke said the decision to keep Kumble's tenure at one year for the time being has been taken to ensure professionalism.

"This is the first time that we have gone through a process starting with advertisements. It has been a large amount of cricketing process. It has been very elaborate. There were marathon meetings. This is a professional appointment and that is the reason we want to be in a position to review our decision. But I hope that we won't need to do that," he explained.

Shirke also dismissed the charge that since Kumble was running a player management firm, his appointment was open to conflict of interest.

"Conflict of interest has become a fashionable word to use. That has been addressed prior to taking this decision," he said.

Kumble will take charge from the upcoming of tour of West Indies which starts July 9.

"We took feedbacks from various sectors since cricket is followed by millions in India. He will take over from the West Indies tour," Thakur said.

On why Shastri was not picked given that he has been with the team for a long time, Thakur merely said, "Our Indian coaches are good. The team's performance improved after the appointment of Ravi Shastri as team director."

The post of head coach of the Team India is lying vacant since the 2015 ICC World Cup.