anil kumble: Indian T20 team needs more batters who can bowl: Anil Kumble

Former India coach Anil Kumble has suggested that power hitting will rule T20 cricket going forward and the Indian team needs to play a brand of cricket where the big batsmen contribute to balance with the ball.

The Indian team was blown away by England’s power hitters Alex Hales and Jos Buttler in the T20 World Cup semi-final played in Adelaide on Thursday.

India’s timid batting approach invited criticism from all quarters as it led to a massive defeat that pulled the team out of the major ICC event.

“… I see that definitely something needs to be done, how we keep talking about bowlers,” Kumble was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.com.

“That’s exactly what England have. They had a lot of options. They used Liam Livingstone. Moeen Ali has hardly bowled in this tournament. So those are the options you need.”

Kumble found fault with the selection of Indian teams and said the current trend needs to be changed.

“Unfortunately even in the India A team that gets picked, it’s mostly batsmen who don’t bowl. It’s important to build that brand of cricket and say how the Indian team is going to do it and do it the right way. The rule should be followed.

He said, “I think the more you play T20, it will be like this, where you just come and show your strength. So I think T20 is going to go ahead.”

Kumble is of the view that each player should understand the specific role assigned to them and once it is decided, the team should stick to it.

He even said that the role should not be restricted to just the national team and players should go back to domestic cricket with the same mindset.

“One is definitely that brand of cricket and then it’s up to the players to choose to do that, but I think it’s also important that these players play their specific roles wherever they play.

“Because it’s not just about playing that role for India and then going back to your domestic cricket and franchise cricket and then changing the way you go about it. For example, Pant today (Thursday) for India Batted at No. 1. 6, he went in the 19th over. He never does that in domestic cricket.”

“So you also need some kind of role definition and that’s something that I think is very important if you’re going to build a powerful team where you need back-up for those roles and not necessarily That your six best players can do whatever role they play. It’s very difficult to do that in the World Cup.”

Originally published at Pen 18