Kumble took the right decision, says Azhar

TIL Desk Sports/ Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin today defended Anil Kumble’s decision to quit as Indian cricket team’s head coach, saying the legendary leg- spinner took the right call in the interest of his self respect.

Kumble had controversially quit two days after the Champions Trophy final loss against Pakistan in London in June, calling his partnership with captain Virat Kohli “untenable”.

He was given an extension for the West Indies tour, but Kumble chose otherwise, marking a closure to his acrimonious episode as the head coach.

“I feel very sad for him. It is sad that something like this happened to Anil. Knowing Anil, I don’t think he is that type of a person. Maybe he thought it is better to be away than losing your self-respect. I think he took the right decision,” Azharuddin said.

The former skipper, who led India in three ODI World Cups – 1992, 1996 and 1999 – was speaking to reporters at the pre-launch event of 3D mobile game Azhar- the Captain, by Hyderabad based firm BigCode Games.