Kumble feels there should be flexibility amongst selection panel
Kumble feels there should be flexibility amongst selection panel
Former captain Anil Kumble feels that the India team management must adopt a more flexible approach in selecting bowlers in the playing XI for overseas tours.
The performance of the India bowlers in the recent four-Test series in Australia, which they lost 0-2, came in for severe criticism, and Kumble felt that some of it was justified.
“We have the quality of bowlers, it’s just trying to see who can adjust to the Test format and then choosing your best four bowlers who you think can pick up 20 wickets, that’s also been an issue,” Kumble told ESPNcricinfo in an interview.
Kumble said that there has to be flexibility in selecting XIs when on tour as it can’t work on the theory of three seamers and one spinner every time. “We have gone into this theory of three seamers and one spinner the moment we sit on an aircraft which travels more than seven hours — that’s the mindset...If your 20 wickets are going to come with two spinners and two fast bowlers, so be it. If it comes with three spinners and one fast bowler so be it,” Kumble said.
He cited the example of the Adelaide Test, where on a batting track known to assist spinners after the first couple of days, India went in with a single tweaker in Karn Sharma. “So who got wickets for Australia then If you look at the top two bowlers, it was one spinner and one fast bowler,” he said.
Kumble said that excess of limited-over cricket have led to Indian bowlers not being disciplined in their approach in Tests.
“You are constantly thinking of pre-empting a batsman because you think he will play this shot — that’s what you do in one-day cricket. You are always guessing and trying to out-guess the batsman. In Test cricket, you need to bowl line and length and keep repeating the same thing. That will only come with playing more of this format, and that will only come with what kind of an approach (you have) prior to heading off (on tour).
“It’s the simple thing that needs to be considered. Test cricket is all about building pressure and how you can sustain it, the longer you can sustain the pressure, the more successful you can be,” explained Kumble.
The former leg-spinner said Indian bowlers should”not look over their shoulder”.
“You can’t be looking over your shoulder and ask which ball should I bowl, what field should I set At the end of the day you know what to do, you have to be your own captain.”
He aslo advised the BCCI and team management to monitor the 20 best bowlers. “It is just a matter of managing the top 20 bowlers and following them over the season, whether they are playing Ranji Trophy or IPL or Tests. At home they seem fine, they are pretty used to the conditions. But generally overseas you need to be stronger.”
