New Delhi: India’s Test stumper Wriddhiman Saha has openend up on the Kohli-Kumble episode and admitted that the atmosphere in the dressing room during Anil Kumble’s tenure was normal.
In an interview to Sportskeeda, the 33-year-old said, “I never felt that way. We used to crack jokes, have fun. I strongly feel the same will happen when Ravi Bhai will come. During the Test matches I didn’t see anything wrong. I have no clue if anything had happened during the ODIs.”
Saha also mentioned that the former boss asked him not to take pressure during India’s tour of West Indies Test series, which was Kumble’s first assignment after taking over as the head coach.
“We went to West Indies under Anil Bhai and he said that I should play as the way I play for Bengal. He asked me not to take much pressure. He shared his experiences with the team which was a great help.”
Anil Kumble decided to step down as the head coach of Indian cricket team following a rift with skipper Virat Kohli before India’s short tour to West Indies.
CAC led by Sourav Ganguly., Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman then appointed former team director Ravi Shastri as the successor to lead India till the 2019 World Cup.
Saha, who looks all set for the grueling season ahead, added the whoever became the coach; the main priority was to win matches for India.
“This is not our decision and as players our only aim is to win matches. Whoever comes in as the coach, the main priority will always remain the same and that is to win matches for India.”
“Ravi Bhai (Ravi Shastri) gave some great inputs when he was the director of the team and now I am looking forward to getting some more valuable inputs from him.”
As for the preparations, Saha said, “I am mostly hitting the indoor nets due to monsoon. At the moment, I am focusing more on training and will do some knocking in coming few days. Full-fledged practice will take place once we reach there. We will have practice matches too so that will surely help us,” He added.
India are scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka Lanka, where they play 3 tests, 5 ODI’s and 1 T20.