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Former spinner and India captain Anil Kumble believes it is time for India to implement its transition plans in white-ball cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing Champions Trophy and build a young team to compete in the 2027 ODI World Cup. Kumble was speaking on ESPNcricinfo's Matchday show.
On Thursday, India began its Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai, with experienced stars including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami featuring in the playing XI. Kumble feels head coach Gautam Gambhir would need to make "tough calls" irrespective of how India fares in the current tournament. "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," Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo's Matchday show. "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," he added. With Gambhir at the helm, India has emerged as a T20I giant, boasting 16 wins with just two defeats. However, Gambhir has yet to establish his credentials as a coach in the ODI and Test formats. Under his supervision, India lost a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years. In Test format, India endured a heartbreaking 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand. India then travelled to Australia and failed to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade with a 3-1 series defeat. Kumble feels India needs to infuse young blood into the squad and give them enough time to gel before the 2027 ODI World Cup. "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," he said. "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 consistent run of games playing with each other, to understand many things like the batting order, match situation, and tactics," he added. (ANI)
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