If there is anything to be learnt from the Kohli–Kumble saga, it’s that in cricket, the captain will always have the final say and Kohli could not have taken this stand without the backing of his dressing room.
JUNE 16, BIRMINGHAM
A day after he takes his team to the finals of the 2017 Champions Trophy with a masterful 96, Virat Kohli is out of bed at 7 am. Celebrations can wait, he has more pressing matters to attend to. An hour later, he’s heading to London whilst his teammates are still asleep. They can afford to be. Unlike their captain, they will travel at leisure, with nothing but a day’s rest to look forward to.
JUNE 16, LONDON
Four hours later, Kohli is sitting in a meeting room at the Taj Hotel in London’s St James Court. Sitting across him are three of the biggest names in Indian cricket—Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has decided Anil Kumble will continue as coach of the India cricket team and want Kohli’s stamp of approval before making it official. But the captain is having none of it.
JUNE 17, LONDON
A day to go for the Champions Trophy final; in a last-ditch effort the CAC calls on Kohli, again. The agenda remains the same, but so does the outcome.
A top source would later tell SportS Illustrated India, “Virat refused to budge, despite repeated requests.” Kumble, it is learnt, was keen to iron out any differences between them, believing that the two of them could still work in tandem for the betterment of Indian cricket. The results of the last 12 months were testament to that. But according to the well-placed source, “For Kohli the relationship was irreparable.”
JUNE 18, LONDON
Favourites India are shocked in the final of the Champions Trophy by the lowest-seeded team in the competition, in what also turns out to be the biggest defeat in terms of runs to arch-rivals Pakistan in a one-day game.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2017 من Sports Illustrated India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2017 من Sports Illustrated India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Hockey World Cup- India Gears Up For Glory
Hosts India will have to play out of their skins to win their second Hockey Men’s World Cup title.
The Drive For Consistency
Find something you love doing and use that to fall in love with your body, so you can embrace change and sustain a pattern that lets you unlock the best version of yourself
The Phenomenon
Kevin Pietersen may have retired from playing, but he will remain a part of the game and Test cricket folklore for a long time
Powering The Action
The IPL is intense. Players let off the fireworks on the pitch, but it is the coaches and support staff that light the fuses. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED traces the evolution of this critical aspect of the game, and why Indians still need to make a mark
A Steep Learning Curve
Making the transition from the junior level to the senior team has been quite challenging but a hugely rewarding experience.
Scorecard - Don't Blame It on Rio
Apathy towards the Olympics could cast golf in a negative light and jeo paradise its standing with the IOC for the 2024 Games and beyond.
Bench Strength
With the Likes of Nair, Yadav, Jadhav and Chahal Performing With Maturity Over the Past Year, Team India’s Bench Strength Looks Strong Ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Sir Roger Bannister (1929-2018)
A legend in his own time, Sir Roger was most proud of his neurology research but his historic sub-four mile run in 1954 is still regarded as one of his best breakthroughs
Battle Ready
A star-studded Indian contingent seeks to reshape its approach with rising talent, even as seasoned warriors in badminton, weight-lifting, shooting and wrestling aim for gold
Safe Passage
The Dustup That Marred the Return of Chris Paul to L.a. Has Faded. As the Point God Settles Into a New Home, He Has a New Running Buddy and a Group of Teammates Who Feel Like a Family
