Pressure mounts on India seniors as Kumble sends brutal 'legacy players' advice to Gambhir: ‘Make those hard decisions’

India began their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on a dominating note, sealing a six-wicket win against Bangladesh in Dubai on Thursday. Shubman Gill’s unbeaten ton and Mohammed Shami’s fifer proved to be the difference, taking away pressure from a team which has been facing criticism lately. Anil Kumble had a brutal selection advice for Gautam Gambhir.

The match once again showed that time is slowly running out for India’s senior stars. Lately, the poor form of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli has been put under the spotlight. The veterans also made their Ranji Trophy returns recently, but failed to make an impact for their respective sides. Against Bangladesh, the pair failed to find their footing in the run-chase. Rohit managed 41 off 36 balls, clattering seven fours, and Kohli mustered 22 off 38 deliveries. Kohli’s knock in particular reminded fans that the RCB’s star is nowhere near his prime as he managed only a single four.

Anil Kumble's brutal advice to Gautam Gambhir

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, former cricketer and India head coach Anil Kumble felt that Gambhir would need to make some ‘tough calls’ on the future of ‘the legacy players’ after the tournament. Due to the importance of the 2027 ODI World Cup, Kumble also felt that the ongoing tournament’s result would decide the future of senior players like Rohit, Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Kumble also had some advice for Gambhir, urging him to integrate some younger players into the playing XI, so that India are well-prepared for 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 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.

Kohli’s knock, in particular, was a pain to watch for Indian fans. The former skipper walked in to bat with India at 69/1, after the departure of Rohit. But his form was straightaway put in the scanner as he began with nine dot deliveries on the trot from Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The only boundary he got was an uncontrolled pull shot, and then he was finally removed when trying to cut Rishad Hossain and was caught at backward point, with India at 112/2.

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