Anil Kumble (File photo)

LONDON: Anil Kumble is set to continue his stint as India coach for a few days more, at least until the West Indies tour, with the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) asking the Indian cricket board for more time to resolve the issue.

TOI had on Thursday reported that the CAC, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, would find it hard to remove Kumble at a moment's notice. Results have gone the India coach's way and the same committee had picked him only last year.

On Thursday night here, the CAC met BCCI CEO Rahul Johri at a city hotel and deliberated on the issue for a bit more than two hours. Late in the night, they communicated their decision to the board: give us more time to think over the issue. It is understood members of the CAC have also had separate conversations with Kumble and Kohli .

The CAC's procrastination has ensured a hasty truce in the captain-coach saga which has threatened to swamp India's Champions Trophy campaign.The real issue, of how a team can carry on with the captain and coach uncomfortable with each other, has been left unanswered for the moment.

“The CAC has bought some time for Kumble and ensured he is not ignominiously removed after India's run in the Champions Trophy. He will travel with the team to West Indies. It's a short tour so there shouldn't be any problems,“ said a top source. “Kohli is basically being asked to 'adjust' for a while more.“

For the moment, there is no clarity on when, if at all, the CAC will conduct the pending interviews with the other coaching applicants. The team leaves for the West Indies on June 20 from London and returns to India on July 10.

A decision on Kumble is now expected to be taken at the BCCI's SGM on June 26. Incidentally, a day before the SGM, all BCCI members are scheduled to meet Vinod Rai, head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

BCCI's acting president CK Khanna, who wrote a letter to all stakeholders arguing that the matter be postponed till the BCCI SGM on June 26, told TOI: “How could the coach be replaced in the middle of the Champions Trophy and with the tour to West Indies coming up? Everyone, including IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, was agreed on the fact that the matter of picking a new coach or giving Kumble an extension must be delayed.“

All stakeholders involved in trying to sort out the impasse have agreed that the next India coach, whether it is Kumble or some new entrant, should stay on at least till the 2019 World Cup in order to prevent similar controversies form erupting during that period.

Kumble, who did not have any previous coaching experience at this level, was only given a one-year contract in June 2016, in order to provide the BCCI with the opportunity to reassess his position should the need arise.

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