Kumble hits out at media pressure

I couldn't agree with Kumble's comments more. Irrespective of anyone's thoughts on his captaincy, there's no doubt he's a class bowler and the media grief he's getting will only increase the pressure on him. Most players respond better when not under pressure (Collingwood excepted!), so the Indian media are responsible for reducing their national side's chances of winning.

That sort of thing infuriates me - The News of the World trapping Sven Goran Eriksson prior to the World Cup was a classic English example....that story (that had been created deliberately by the paper) was only ever going to damage England's chances in the competition, so why even consider running it if you put the interests of the national side near the top of your priorities. Unfortunately, the interests of the national side are low in the media's list of priorities and sales of course come top. But I certainly have never bought the News of the World again after that story was run and anecdotally I know of several others who felt the same and also stopped buying it regularly, so these stories may create a short-term positive blip in sales, but aren't going to do them any favours in the long-term.

I hope Kumble isn't forced into succumbing like Michael Vaughan was.