As Sourav Ganguly took charge as BCCI president, Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai feels the rift between present Indian skipper Virat Kohli and former coach Anil Kumble would have been dealt with differently if the former India captain had been at the helm then. Rai believes Ganguly would have sided with Kumble in the 2017 fall-out with Kohli.
"There was so much controversy. Who could have handled it better? If this had happened today, Sourav would have thrust Kumble down Virat's throat. But it could have created more tensions. I respected Kumble because he walked out," Vinod Rai said in an interview to Hindustan Times.
Kumble stepped down as the head coach before current coach Ravi Shastri took over the reins.
Talking about the "free hand" given to Kohli and Shastri, Rai said: "If you don't give a free hand to coach and captain, who do you give it to? Since I was not equipped to sit in judgement over Kohli and Shastri, I didn't allow others (including Diana) to interfere. I kept them away. I would do the same again."
Rai said Kumble was the best coach available and he would have kept him in the role if it was possible.
"If his contract had an extension clause, I would have extended it. I have too much respect and regard for Kumble. But since there was no extension clause and since I wasn't equipped to decide, we fell back on CAC. We inherited the CAC, not created it," he said.
Rai revealed the fact that both Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar could not persuade Kohli to have Kumble as the coach of the national team.
"I had a long chat with Sachin then and Sourav now. I met Sachin in Birmingham during the Champions Trophy -- they were meeting Kumble and Virat -- and I told him I had a long chat with Virat. I barely knew Virat then.
"Sourav told me recently that they had a long chat with him. If they couldn't persuade him how could I? Look, if there is a difference in the dressing room between captain and coach, who is more dispensable? Obviously, the coach. That's where we got caught," Rai said.
India recently completed a 3-0 whitewash against South Africa under Kohli's leadership and BCCI chief Ganguly has said he will support the Indian captain as he is the most important man.