After Anil Kumble stepped down from the post of Indian cricket team‘s head coach following a rift with Captain Virat Kohli, Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra has revealed how he stuck with a coach he hated, for 20 long years.
Taking to microblogging website Twitter, Bindra although did not take names of any of the two involved, he indirectly presented his views on the Kumble-Kohli episode. “My biggest teacher was coach Uwe.I hated him! But stuck with him for 20 years.He always told me things I did not want to hear.#justsaying,” the shooter wrote on Twitter about his own equation with German Uwe Riesterer, who is a long-time member of his coaching staff.
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Riesterer was part of Bindra’s support staff when he became the first Indian to win an individual gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was with him until last year’s Games as well where he finished 4th in the 10m air rifle event before calling it a day. Earlier, Kumble informed that skipper Virat Kohli had reservations about his work ‘style’ and his extension as the head coach, which prompted him to resign.
In a strongly worded letter, Kumble took to Twitter to reveal the reason behind his surprising decision. Kumble said that although the BCCI had, several times, attempted to resolve the misunderstandings between him and the captain, it was apparent that the partnership was untenable, and therefore, he had decided to move on.
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However, Kohli before India’s opening encounter at the Champions Trophy against Pakistan rejected the reports of him having a rift with the head coach, saying they were mere speculations which have been created by the people. Kumble was appointed a coach in June 2016 for a one-year term by the CAC and was instantly successful. Under him, India won Test series against West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia.
And he was being considered the front-runner for an extension till the 2019 World Cup, with Team India having won almost every series under him in the past one year. It was reported that the three-member CAC, who are tasked to find the new coach for the Indian cricket team, was willing to retain the legendary leg-spinner for the post.
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The BCCI has now deputed its general manager, Dr M.V. Sridhar, to supervise the team management for the West Indies tour. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bangar, and R Sridhar, will continue to remain the Batting Coach and the Fielding Coach, respectively.