Saturday, July 12, 2008

Kumble cautioned for remarks to newspaper

Kumble cautioned for remarks to newspaper.

Anil Kumble, India's Test captain, has been cautioned by the BCCI for divulging details of the Sri Lanka tour selection meeting to a newspaper.

Kumble told Mumbai Mirror that he had asked the selectors to pick two specialist wicketkeepers for the three-Test series. "As captain I am aware that there could be problems if the specialist were to pull a muscle or have a runny stomach on the morning of a Test," Kumble said. "There was a suggestion that Rahul [Dravid] be the second wicketkeeper, but I persuaded the [selection] committee to view things from Indian cricket's point of view and advantage."

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, censured Kumble for his remarks. "I have been informed by the chairman [Dilip Vengsarkar] that Mumbai Mirror, a newspaper in Mumbai, has published some story about the selection meeting which is attributed to you.

"You are aware that proceedings of the selection committee are not supposed to be divulged and are certainly not meant for public discussion. As a senior player, you should have restrained from such interviews."

India had included wicketkeepers Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel in the Test squad for Sri Lanka after Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted out of the series.