Anil Kumble: A profile of team India's new head coach
The BCCI ensured it left no stone unturned in its pursuit of the next head coach of Team India, zeroing in on Anil Kumble after a lengthy process that took one month. The post has remained vacant since Duncan Fletcher’s exit after the 2015 World Cup.
The BCCI announced Anil Kumble to be India’s next coach for a term of 12 months at a press conference on Thursday evening after the BCCI conclave concluded in Dharamshala.
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Also read: Anil Kumble was the front runner for the post prior to his appointment
Kumble was selected from a list of 57 applicants for the job after the BCCI had invited applications on the 23rd of May. The list was shortened to 21 potential candidates by the BCCI, and was forwarded to the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.
The committee, was assisted by former secretary and national selector Sanjay Jagdale as its co-ordinator, and submitted its final report on the 22nd of June to BCCI president Anurag Thakur through secretary Shirke.
At that point, it was mentioned that A number of high-profile names including Ravi Shastri, Anil Kumble, Sandeep Patil had applied for the top job.
The CAC interviewed an even shorter list before coming out with the decision. They believe they have made the right choice and that Anil Kumble is the perfect person to take India forward in the coming months.
Here’s a brief profile of Anil Kumble, India’s current head coach:
Kumble’s cricketing pedigree is out of question, being one of the best bowlers to have ever played the game. In an International career that spanned 18 years, Kumble took 619 Test and 337 ODI wickets.
Read: Eoin Morgan includes Anil Kumble in his all time XI
After his retirement, Kumble donned a number of administrational roles in the world of sports. He was first appointed to the athlete's commission of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), with his term starting on 1 January 2009.
In 2010, he was appointed President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. He also served as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy during this period. Two years later, in 2012, he was named head of the BCCI's Technical Committee, taking over from the former India captain Sourav Ganguly at that point.
His acumen for the game was realised at an early age, and it is due to this fact that was he was appointed the chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC)'s cricket committee in 2012. Not only that, as recently as last month, he was re-appointed as Chairman, a post he will hold until 2018. Under its ambit, the ICC cricket committee periodically recommends changes to the rules in the various formats of the game to make it more balanced and appealing.
His experience in the coaching department spans 4 years with two of the IPL’s most successful teams, first, the Royal Challengers Bangalore and second, the Mumbai Indians where he portrayed the role of chief mentor.
Kumble also runs his own talent management and grassroots development company, TENVIC, which has been increasingly successful over the past few years.