Virat Kohli wanted me to take head coach position after fallout with Anil Kumble: Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has claimed that Virat Kohli approached him to take India's head coach position after his fallout with Anil Kumble.

Kumble, who was appointed India's head coach in June 2016 for a one-year period, was offered an extension by the BCCI but he turned it down after getting to know that Kohli had reservations against his coaching style.

"Post this intimation, I was informed for the first time yesterday by the BCCI that the captain had reservations with my 'style’ and about my continuing as the head coach. I was surprised since I have always respected the role boundaries between captain and coach," Kumble had said in a statement back then.

However, Kohli has always stayed mum on the matter. But adding another twist to the five-year-old saga, Sehwag has now claimed that Kohli and then BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary approached him and wanted him to take the high-profile role.

"I wouldn’t have applied if Virat Kohli and then BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary hadn’t approached me," Sehwag told News18 India.

"We had a meeting, and he (Choudhary) told me that things weren’t working out between Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble we want you to take the coaching position. He told that me that Kumble’s contract will expire after the Champions Trophy in 2017 and then you can travel to West Indies with the team," he added.

Kumble was eventually replaced by Ravi Shastri who remained with the side until T20 World Cup 2021. The captain-coach relationship between Kohli and Shastri was a popular one in the team as well as the media. The aggressive duo gave new wings to the Indian Test team especially. Under Shastri's stint, India won two consecutive Test series in Australia.

However, both Kohli Kohli and Shastri failed to win an ICC major trophy during their tenure as India captain and coach respectively. Kohli stepped down from India's T20I captaincy following the T20 World Cup 2021.