Anil Kumble says Gautam Gambhir will have to make tough calls about transitioning from ‘legacy players’

While the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team began their Champions Trophy campaign with a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday, the spotlight was on the form of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Sharma played a 36-ball 41-run knock while Kohli could manage a score of 22 runs off 38 balls. With the spotlight on both the players, former Indian player and coach Anil Kumble believes coach Gautam Gambhir should need to start looking ahead and to make ‘tough decisions’ if need arises.
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“You could say this is a very important tournament for a coach who has to make those tough calls in terms of transitioning from the legacy players to the others. But that’s the job of the coach, to make those hard decisions. This tournament could determine where those seniors would go, and where India would look at making those changes. Win or lose, you need these tough calls to be made at the earliest. You need to start looking ahead in white-ball cricket, especially at the 2027 World Cup,” Kumble told ESPNCricinfo.
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Sharma crossed the 11,000-run mark in his ODI career during Thursday’s match against Bangladesh while Kohli is currently 15 runs short of the 14,000-run mark in his ODI career. Both the senior players have an ODI average in excess of 48 with Sharma’s ODI average being 49.01 and Kohli’s ODI average being 57.78. While both the players retired from T20Is post India’s T20 World Cup last year, Kumble believes that current coach Gautam Gambhir needs to build the squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup at present and emphasised on the squad playing at least 20 or 25 matches together. “In any World Cup, you’re looking at building a squad that has played at least 20 or 25 matches together. That’s when you understand the nuances of match situations, and who to rely on. Ideally, at the end of this tournament, you must start looking ahead to the next World Cup. Do the seniors make it there? Or do we give the opportunity to youngsters to take the team forward in the shorter formats and build a strong unit? These are questions Gambhir needs to address,” Kumble added.
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The Champions Trophy Indian squad has seen youngsters like Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh being included in the squad with Rana playing against Bangladesh on Thursday. With the next ODI World Cup to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, Kumble advised Gambhir to give the new players a consent run. “He (Gambhir) has a fresh, young team and plenty of players to choose and build from, so he needs to organically start preparing for the 2027 World Cup. In T20Is, he’s done well. Suryakumar Yadav has been a great captain. The next World Cup is still two years from now, and the new set of players will need a consent run of games playing with each other, to understand many things like the batting order, match situation, and tactics,” said Kumble.