BCCI's Amitabh Choudhary defends statement playing down Virat Kohli-Anil Kumble spat

The Board of Control for Cricket in India acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary had pleaded ignorance when the rift between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble was an open secret and on Monday he defended his statement made during the Champions Trophy. [caption id=“attachment_3605423” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image of BCCI logo. Reuters[/caption] Choudhary, who was also in England during the Champions Trophy, had then dismissed reports claiming serious differences between Kohli and Kumble, eventually leading to an acrimonious exit of India’s head coach. “Smoke without fire statement concerning Kohli-Kumble differences was made in real time when I didn’t see any smoke,” said Choudhary. Choudhary also reiterated that the final call on the new coach will be taken by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. The BCCI has already made it clear that the coach will be appointed before the Sri Lanka tour next month. The Indian team is currently without a coach in the West Indies with batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R Sridhar continuing their duty in the Caribbean. Kumble’s contract as the head coach was coming to an end and he was not offered another contract instead the Board asked for new applicants to apply for the role of the Head coach giving Kumble a direct-entry into the process. BCCI on Friday had extended the deadline to apply for the post of Head Coach till 9 July, ensuring that a broader pool is available to choose from after Anil Kumble’s acrimonious exit.