To avoid another Kumble-Kohli like row, BCCI should appoint Tom Moody as new coach

The India cricket team, who finished as runners-up in the recently concluded Champions Trophy, bagged plenty of headlines for off-field reasons too. There were talks about the possible rift between the Indian captain Virat Kohli and head coach Anil Kumble, which was brushed aside by the former during the competition.

Though Kohli denied any such rift, the air has been cleared now as Kumble has decided to resign as the coach of Indian cricket team. The BCCI had informed Kumble about Kohli having reservations with his style.

Now, the question is– who will be India's new coach? The BCCI had invited applications for a coach, even before the Champions Trophy started, and Kumble was a direct entrant.

Surprisingly, there weren't many candidates for the most coveted job in world cricket. The discussions centred mainly around Tom Moody, Virender Sehwag, Richard Pybus, Lalchand Rajput and Dodda Ganesh.

Out of these five, Moody and Sehwag are the favourites for the job. The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman have been tasked with the job of finding a new coach.

CAC picked Kumble for the job last year. The Kumble-Kohli rift has let a few skeletons out of the closet. The panel will look to avoid a similar scenario in future which makes Moody an ideal candidate for the job.

If the current members of the Indian team, including Kohli, had a tough time to deal with Kumble and his administrative style, it is not going to be any different with Sehwag, who is a no-nonsense person. He is the kind who calls a spade a spade and suffer no fools. His devil may care attitude could prove unproductive if he fails to get along with the team.

Moreover, Sehwag does not have much experience as a coach despite his mentor role for Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017.

Hence, the CAC should look no further than Moody, who has all the right ingredients to become the next coach of the Indian cricket team. He has got a number of factors going for him.

Moody is an experienced coach. The Australian was also a successful gaffer of the Sri Lankan cricket team as he guided the team to 2007 world cup final. Even after he retired he was very much in touch with international cricket and understands how the game has evolved.

Though one might not have followed his coaching career closely during his Sri Lankan days, his work for the Sunrisers Hyderbad has not gone unnoticed. The Australian guided the team to an incredible victory in IPL 2016. Being a coach of the franchise for the last few years, he shares a good rapport with the Indian players, which could tilt the scales in his favour.

The most important factor that could go for him is his Gary Kirsten-like approach. The SRH coach loves to work in the background and let players take the accolades.

Especially with the way things have gone in the Kumble-Kohli episode, Moody seems to tick all the right boxes to become the next coach of the Indian cricket team.