Anil Kumble looking to boost bench strength ahead of long home season

After spending a couple of months on foreign shores, the Indian cricket team will start their long home season which will include a run of 17 Test matches, starting with New Zealand next month and ending with their Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia in March next year.

Keeping in mind the intense schedule for the players, head coach Anil Kumble is looking to create an additional pool of players, who would be available to replace any of the original players, who will be part of the squad picked for any of the series.

“The idea is that our bench strength should be ready if and when there is an SOS call. India will be playing New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. It is a long season ahead and Kumble wants to identify players and to see which format they fit into, if not all. While the top players pick themselves, horses for courses will be his mantra when it comes to shuffling players around. It’s the roadmap for India during his tenure, and he’s very keen on taking this team forward,” a source in the BCCI said.

The source further added that Kumble was sure about the fact that the job of ensuring India becomes a good side, particularly in overseas conditions.

“Kumble is sure that if the Indian team has to move forward, all stakeholders will have to work together. He can’t change things on his own. The Indian team has played good cricket at home but he wants to get different views on what is needed for them to do well overseas, like probably having more exposure trips for our bench strength,” the source added.

India begin their home season with the first of the three Tests scheduled to start on the 22^nd of September in Kanpur. The team, under Viral Kohli is coming off a 2-0 series win over the West Indies and were also the number 1 ranked team in the world for a brief period.