If Kohli can get coach of his choice, why can’t Harman: Diana

Vinayak Padmadeo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 11

The turf war between Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai and member Diana Edulji doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. The latest disagreement between the two is over the appointment of a committee, comprising Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, for the selection of the coach of the Indian women’s team.

Diana has not only questioned Rai’s authority in bypassing her objections, she has also told BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager Saba Karim to stop the process of appointment of coaches. “He (Rai) can’t take any unilateral decisions as there is no casting vote for the chairman. Without my approval, you cannot proceed on this as it does not have my approval,” Diana wrote in an email to Johri and Karim, which was also marked to Rai.

Backing India T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s demand to continue with Ramesh Powar as coach, Diana has accused Rai of having different parameters for the men’s and women’s teams.  “I see nothing wrong in women cricketers writing e-mails regarding the coach. They were truthful in expressing their views unlike Virat who frequently sent sms to the CEO (Johri), on which you acted and the coach was changed,” wrote Edulji.

“Virat did not accede to Kumble continuing as coach in spite of Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) saying so, so then why don’t these two players get what they feel is best for the team.”

‘Team has no say on coach’ 

Rai, on the other hand, is of the opinion that team doesn’t have a say on the appointment of the coach. “Yes, there were differences between Virat and Kumble. As a consequence, Kumble stepped down. More importantly, the team did not send e-mails. The team must realise that coaches are not decided on team votes,” Rai wrote in his reply to Diana’s objection.

“If it is a question of respecting opinions of senior players, why not respect the opinion of the senior most player, the ODI captain of the team? What I cannot understand is, why some members of the team, or any other person advising them, is against having an internationally acclaimed coach?” he further wrote.

This isn’t the first time when Diana and Rai have had a difference of opinion. When the sexual harassment allegations against Johri surfaced, Diana had dissented with the way the probe against him was handled. Two of the three-member inquiry committee, Justice Rakesh Sharma (retd) and Barkha Singh, termed the allegations as “false, baseless”, “motivated and fabricated”. But the third member, Veena Gowda, called his conduct “unprofessional and inappropriate, which would adversely affect its (BCCI’s) reputation”. Diana wanted Johri axed because of Gowda’s submissions, which was overruled by Rai.

DIANA to RAI 

Virat did not accede to Kumble continuing (as coach) in spite of Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) saying so, so then why can’t these two players get what they feel is best for the team.

In my absence, you had a meeting with Harmanpreet and Mithali and when I enquired, you replied they wanted to meet you, so you met them. Once again, you have failed to understand that I have an equal say in all matters of BCCI as CoA with equal rights, not less not more