Anil Kumble didn’t hold himself back after India lost the second Test at Guwahati to succumb 0-2 in the Test series to South Africa.
“Today was abject surrender. It required fight, some adjustments, some adaptability , just put your head down and bat. Jadeja showed it … Very disappointing for India. If you look at the four innings, 83.5 overs was the maximum that they batted and that too because of Kuldeep and Washington Sundar partnership,” Anil Kumble told Jio Hotstar.
Kumble then turned on the team’s tactics and selection policy.
“It’s not just the loss but the way the result came about. It requires a different mindset when it comes to Test cricket. You can’t have so many allrounders, so many changes, so many changes in batting order, so many changes in team itself. Every other game, guys come in, guys get dropped.
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Next Test is August 2026, you have still time to ponder. But you can’t forget this result. You need to have a discussion how Indian Test cricket goes forward. Stalwarts have retired from Test match cricket and when that does happen, you need sane heads to sit around the table and have a discussion.”
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Kumble then remarked on the frequent chopping and changing in the team’s selection policies.
You can’t get players come in and hope they will develop. It can’t happen. That can happen with one or two players and nine experienced. But you can’t have one or two experienced and rest of all are trying to find their feet in Test match cricket,” Kumble said.
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Kumble also brought up the fact that how teams have been different but the results has been the same. India had lost 0-3 to New Zealand last year. And now another whitewash to South Africa.
“Unfortunately for India it seems to be repeated. Bowlers are different, teams are different [referring to the loss against New Zealand last year, and now to South Africa] But this was a good surface, just natural wear and tear they had to contend. But India couldn’t manage that,” Kumble said.
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