ICC T20 World Cup 2022: 'India needs batters to bowl too for team balance' - Kumble

By Team Newsable | First Published Nov 11, 2022, 2:16 PM IST

ICC T20 World Cup 2022: India came up with a shambolic bowling performance to get ousted in the semis by England in Adelaide on Thursday. Meanwhile, Anil Kumble indicated that India needs more all-rounders.

Power hitting will be ruling Twenty20 (T20) cricket going forward, and the team India needs to play a brand of cricket where big-hitting batters donate with the ball for the right team balance, former Indian head coach Anil Kumble has recommended. The Indians were blown away by England's power hitters Alex Hales and Jos Buttler in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. India's nervous batting approach saw criticisms from all quarters, leading to a heavy upset that spelt the team's ouster from the premier International Cricket Council (ICC) event.

"...what I see as something that must be done is how we keep talking about bowlers' need to bat. But, I think in Indian cricket, you need batters to bowl, too, for the balance of the team. That's exactly what England has. They had too many choices. They used Liam Livingstone. Moeen Ali has hardly bowled in this tournament. So, those are the choices that you need," Kumble told ESPNcricinfo.

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Kumble located defects with the selection of Indian sides and feels the current trend needs to alter. "Unfortunately, even in the India-A team that gets picked, it's primarily batters who don't bowl. It's essential to create that brand of cricket and say that this is how the Indian team will do it, and it should follow right through the system," he emphasised.

"I think the more and more you play T20s. It's going to be like this, where you just come and show your power. So, that's exactly how I think T20 will go forward," added Kumble. He believes every player should apprehend the distinct role rationed to him, and once that's completed, the team should adhere to that.

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Kumble said that that role should not be specified just to the national team, and the players must go back to playing domestic cricket with the exact mindset. "One is, of course, having that brand of cricket and then choosing the players to do that, but it's also important that these players play their specific roles wherever they play," he continued.

"Because it's not about just playing that role for India and then going back to your domestic and franchise cricket and changing the way you're going to go about it. For example, Pant batted for India at No. 6. He walked in in the 19th over. He never does that in domestic cricket," mentioned Kumble.

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"So, you need some role definition as well there, and that's something I think is very critical if you're going to build a potent team where you need a back-up for those roles and not necessarily your six best players whatever role they can. It's complicated to do that in a World Cup," Kumble concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)

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