Team India are under the massive scrutiny following their humiliating 10-wicket loss against England in the semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 at Adelaide Oval on Thursday. Many experts have lambasted Rohit Sharma and Co. for their style of play in all three departments throughout the multi-team tournament.
Former India head coach Anil Kumble has also pointed out one area of concern for the Men in Blue, which, according to the ex-spinner, should be addressed soon. Kumble reckoned that India must find those batters who could chip in with a few overs of bowling.
Notably, despite posting a decent total of 168/6, England openers – captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales – successfully chased down the target with four overs to spare. Kumble observed that if batters can deliver a few overs, it will help the bowling unit and balance the team’s equation well.
“What I see as something that certainly needs to 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,” he said in ‘T20 Time Out’ show on ESPNcricinfo.
Kumble cited the example of the England team, stating the English side have been benefited from such batters who can bowl as well. He added: “That’s exactly what England have. They had too many choices today. They used Liam Livingstone. Moeen Ali has hardly bowled in this tournament. So those are the choices that you need.”
The 52-year-old further pointed out that India should concentrate on creating a brand of cricket where every player can chip in whenever it requires for the team. Kumble opined that the shortest format is really demanding, and one has to bring out the ‘A Game’ to compete well.
“Unfortunately, even in the India A team that gets picked, it’s mostly batters who don’t bowl. It’s important to create that brand of cricket and say that this is how the Indian team is going to do it, and it should follow right through the system. 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 is going to go forward,” explained the ex-India Test captain.
