The ex-Indian cricket great spinner Anil Kumble has given a very strong opinion regarding the present situation of India’s Test team. He believes the withdrawals of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara have completely disturbed India’s batting order in a very negative way.
The Indian cricket team is suffering a home series defeat to South Africa, and a big part of the reason for this collapse is the middle-order having major pencil shifts in the batting.
Anil Kumble points out the reasons behind India’s Test team being weak
At JioHotstar, Kumble elaborated that the changes in the Indian Test batting line-up have been uncommonly many.
He mentioned that of the five top batters that used to be the main stay of Indian Test team, four are no more due either to retirement or being dropped from the squad.
“Also the other aspect of I, you know, want to bring this point about India’s batting. In the last three or four years, you have seen four batters in the top five either retire or not be picked. You know, if it is, you know, Virat Kohli is retired, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, then you have, of course… Rahane. So four out of five, plus Shubman Gill isn’t in this lineup,” Kumble said.
These are the names of the players: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane among them. Besides, Shubman Gill, not only the captain but also the main batter, is absent from playing eleven because of a neck spasm.
Kumble stated that the frequent changes in batting order will definitely lower the confidence and break the rhythm of the players. In his opinion, young and new batsmen always need to be settled and they need to perform, not be constantly shuffled in and out.
Kumble said, “Yes, they will come good, there will be off days. It is just a matter of giving them support for a period of six, seven, or eight Tests. But if you look back at the last, what, 10-12 Tests, the batting orders at the top have been like a yo-yo.”
He also hinted at Gautam Gambhir to emphasize that players should be supported for a minimum of six to eight Test matches so that they can acclimatize to the international level.
“Then, there have been a lot of changes over there, so that is, I am sure, a bit unsettling for the players too. So looking at all the above factors and the effort here, you know, you feel disappointed. You expected the effort to be better.”
Confusion and stress have been created inside the team because of the changing of the top order of batsmen in India over the last ten to twelve matches.
Gautam Gambhir indirectly pointed fingers at the batsmen for the loss in the Kolkata Test.
India lost the first Test match against South Africa in Kolkata by a margin of 30 runs. Head coach Gautam Gambhir, who was previously blaming the pitch, now indirectly blamed the batters for getting all out for just 93 runs in their second inning.
He criticized the players’ mentality and said that the total was quite manageable. He also defended Eden Gardens pitch by saying it was not “unplayable” and that the batsmen should have displayed more mental strength to score runs during their innings.
