With tensions within the Indian cricket team mounting, coach Anil Kumble might be thinking of quitting says a report, quoting sources. That will be a huge sporting mess, but it will also be amply reflected within the BCCI which just saw one of its Committee of Administrators (CoA), historian and cricket buff Ramachandra Guha, suddenly putting in his papers.

If one reads the resignation letter sent by Guha to the CoA and via them to the Supreme Court, the fourth point mentioned is about the way the team’s coach (Kumble) has been handled and how the players get a disproportionate amount of respect even at the cost of the coach, who has great contribution in the team’s recent successes.

Guha’s letter says: “In a system based on justice and merit, the head coach’s term would have been extended. Instead, Kumble was left hanging, and then told that the post would be re-advertised afresh.

“The Indian team’s record this past season has been excellent; and even if the players garner the bulk of the credit, surely the head coach and his support staff also get some.”

Interestingly, Kumble and Guha are both from Bengaluru. This has been a long standing issue within the Indian team, but this was the first time that a member of the top management group of the BCCI had articulated it.

It seems clear now that the resignation of Guha and the quit threat by Kumble may be linked. Maybe the Supreme Court would look into the reorganization of the CoA to represent the players in a more forthright manner. It surely would want to know more on why Guha quit when it takes up Guha’s resignation letter on July 14. These issues would come to light immediately.

—India Legal Bureau