Anil Kumble Unhappy with Shubman Gill’s Captaincy in Delhi Test Against West Indies

Anil Kumble felt India could have put more pressure on West Indies’ batters in the Delhi Test and was not fully satisfied with Shubman Gill’s captaincy.

Former India coach Anil Kumble has assessed India’s bowling in the second Test against the West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. India currently lead the two-match series 1-0, and the second Test is also leaning in their favour.

Kumble noted that Shubman Gill’s side could have applied more pressure on the West Indies batters. He observed that even with a docile pitch, India missed opportunities to force mistakes through smarter field placements.

“The pitch was really docile. One thing India could have done better was to put a little more pressure on the batters. But credit to the West Indian batters as well. I know we’re looking at it from an Indian bowling perspective, but I thought the West Indies batters really applied themselves. I had a brief chat with Daren Sammy, their coach, yesterday morning, and the first thing he said was, ‘I wish our batters could apply themselves more’,” Kumble said on JioHotstar.

“They’ve now shown the coach that they can do it. We saw that yesterday and again today. Even the tail-enders applied themselves really well. I thought the No. 10 and No. 11 batted brilliantly to frustrate the Indian bowlers. Maybe, India could have applied a bit more pressure through field placements to force mistakes,” he added.

Shai Hope Ends Eight-Year Test Century Drought

Anil Kumble then praised West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Shai Hope for his impressive century in the second Test against India. The knock was Hope’s first Test hundred in eight years and played a key role in helping the visitors surpass the follow-on mark, forcing India to bat again.

“West Indies went past the follow-on mark and ensured that India had to bat again. I thought Shai Hope was exceptional. We all know his potential. He’s done it consistently in white-ball cricket. He had a great start to his Test career as well. I remember when I was a coach and we toured the West Indies,” he said.

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“He played a practice game before the series started, batted brilliantly, got a hundred, and looked the part. Since then, his performances dipped a bit, but to get his first fifty after 31 innings and now a hundred today, he really looked solid. I’m sure he’s now taken that No. 4 role very seriously, and that’s something the West Indies will want to build on moving forward,” Kumble concluded.