‘Need specialists’ - Anil Kumble bats for different white-ball and red-ball teams after India's T20 World Cup exit

Former Indian head coach Anil Kumble feels that India need to have separate teams for white-ball and red-ball formats after the agonising defeat at the hands of England in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022. India decided to go in with the senior players of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with the experience they bring and the decision backfired in the end.  

England made a huge transition after the 2015 World Cup exit and they have benefitted a lot now with the 2019 World Cup win and the T20 World Cup 2022 victory. They have separate squads for different formats and the strategy has paid off well. Many have suggested India to approach the game in a similar manner and Kumble was the latest to join the list.  

You need to invest in a lot of all-rounders: Anil Kumble 

Kumble noted that the T20 specialists should be preferred moving forward and gave an example of usage England and Australia regarding their use of all-rounder.  

“Definitely, you need separate teams. You need, certainly, T20 specialists,” Kumble was quoted as saying by India Today. 

“I think what this English team has shown and even the last (T20) World Cup champions Australia have shown is that you need to invest in a lot of all-rounders.

"Look at the batting order. Today, Liam Livingstone is batting at No. 7. No other team has a No. 7 of the quality of Livingstone. (Marcus) Stoinis walks in at No. 6 (for Australia). That's the kind of team you have to build. That's something that you need to invest in.

“I'm not really sure whether you need a different captain or a different coach. It all depends on what team you are going to pick and then choose how you want to build the support and the leadership around it,” he added.