Virat Kohli said younger members of team felt intimidated by Anil Kumble, reveals Vinod Rai in his book

The relationship between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble has been one of the most talked-about topics in the recent history of Indian cricket. Despite India’s decent performance in the West Indies as well as in the Champions Trophy in England, Kumble's untimely resignation as the head coach of Team India citing an ‘untenable relationship’ with the then captain Kohli, literally shook the cricketing world. 

Shedding light on the chapter, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, who also served as the head of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that ran Indian cricket for nearly three years since 2017, said Kohli had reservations with Kumble's ‘disciplinarian’ way of handling things.

“In my conversations with the captain and team management, it was conveyed that Kumble was too much of a disciplinarian and hence the team members were not too happy with him,” wrote Rai in his book named ‘Not Just a Nightwatchman — My Innings in the BCCI’.

Rai, the former IAS officer also went on to add that Kohli mentioned young players being "intimated" by Kumble, who is still India's highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs.

“I had spoken to Virat Kohli on the issue and he did mention that the younger members of the team felt intimidated by the way he worked with them,” Rai added.

Kumble had taken over as India's head coach in 2016 and decided to step down from the position after the 2017 Champions Trophy, in which India lost to Pakistan in the final.