Lack of proper planning hurt India in the World Cup, reckons Anil Kumble

Former Indian leg-spinner and head coach Anil Kumble believes that one of the main reasons due to which India got knocked out of the 2019 ODI World Cup was the lack of proper planning in the crucial stages of the tournament. India crashed out of the World Cup after losing their semifinal match against New Zealand.

India had gone into the World Cup with an untested middle-order containing the likes of Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant, each of whom had not even played ten games for the country till then. Experienced players like Ambati Rayudu were left out of the squad while Dinesh Karthik was constantly being shunted in and out of the team.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Next, the Indian legend said:

"We kept talking about the number 4 position leading up to the World Cup. There were lots of changes going up to the World Cup. Even in the World Cup itself, we weren't sure. Yes, there were a couple of occasions where Vijay Shankar got promoted to number 4 but was he the ideal candidate? Then he got injured and KL Rahul batted at number 4. Then, unfortunately, Dhawan got injured and then KL got pushed to the opening slot, and again number 4 became a point of discussion."

High-pressure games require composure from the batsmen and it was harsh to expect that from newbies like Shankar and Pant as they had very little prior experience. Kumble focused on how having a team that was unsettled came back to haunt India, saying:

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"I feel that any World Cup that you're preparing for, you need to have a set team at least 10-15 matches prior. It's important to identify roles and you need to identify specific individuals for those roles, and in case one of them does get injured then you need to have a proper backup. That is something that should've been identified leading up to the World Cup."

He felt that it was not only the New Zealand bowling (that was too good on the day) but also the Indian team's haphazard planning that led to its elimination.

"That first 30-45 minutes of the opening spell by New Zealand took the game away from India. You can always say it was half an hour, 45 minutes of bad cricket that lost us the World Cup but having said that, the planning leading up to the World Cup maybe could've been slightly better."