Kumble appointed new India cricket coach

Former India Test captain Anil Kumble was appointed as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team for a one-year period following an elaborate selection process in which former Indian stars Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were involved.

Anil Kumble was named as the head coach of the Indian cricket team SAEED KHAN/AFP

The 45-year-old Kumble, who is India’s highest wicket taker, was chosen for the high profile job among 57 applicants that included former team director Ravi Shastri and former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody.

"After doing discussions with various stakeholders we have selected Anil Kumble for a period of one year," Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur said.

Kumble said that it was a great honour to be back again in the Indian dressing room in a different role and in a different capacity.

Terming it as a huge responsibility, Kumble said he was ready to take up this role and that he was keen to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors, John Wright and Gary Kirsten, and keep a low-profile in the job.

Former New Zealand opening batsman Wright was India's head coach from 2000 to 2005 while Kirsten took over the reins in 2008 for a three-year period.

“I played a lot under John Wright, he's been a great influence on how I'll go about (the role), in terms of being in the background,” Kumble told the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) website.

Kumble also enjoyed a good rapport with Kirsten (2008-11) during the leg-spinner's last year of international cricket.

He played his final Test in November 2008.

Kumble is the first Indian to be appointed as the full-time coach of the national team since Kapil Dev (1999-2000).