India’s legendary spinner Anil Kumble reckons the Test team has been shaken up by the sudden retirements of senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Cheteshwar Pujara, along with Ajinkya Rahane being left out, and captain Shubman Gill not being available.
Notably, South Africa have defeated India in the first Test match of the Freedom Trophy 2025 by 30 runs to register a Test win on Indian soil after 15 years, and the Proteas also holds the edge in the second clash of the series. South Africa last won a Test series in India during their tour in 1999–2000, which they won 2–0. The series consisted of two Test matches.
Anil Kumble on India's Test downfall
Batting greats Rohit, Virat and Cheteshwar announced their Test retirement earlier this year. Rohit and Virat called it a day in whites before the five-Test match series against England, and Pujara announced his retirement in August after being ignored for a long time. On the other hand, Ajinkya played his last Test in July 2023, while Gill was ruled out of the series due to a neck injury.
“The other aspect of also, you know, I want to bring this point about India’s batting. Over the last three or four years, you have seen four batters in the top five either retire or not be picked," Kumble said while speaking on JioHotstar.
“You know, if it is, you know, Virat Kohli is retired, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, then you have, of course… Rahane. So four out of five, plus Shubman Gill isn’t in this lineup. Yes, India did miss Shubman, the captain, but also, more importantly, missed him as a batter," Kumble added.
Kumble on India's batting changes
Kumble, who also served as India's head coach, also said that frequent changes to the batting order can unsettle cricketers and disrupt their rhythm.
“Yes, they will come good, they will be off days. It is just a matter of supporting them for a period of six, seven, or eight Tests. But if you look back at the last, what, 10-12 Tests, the batting orders at the top have been up and down," Kumble said.
“There have been a lot of changes there, so that is, I am sure, a bit unsettling for the players too. So looking at all of that and the effort here, you know, you feel disappointed. You expected the effort to be better," Kumble added.
Notably, India made a lot of shuffle in their batting in recent times, and Washington Sundar is one such example as the all-rounder batted at number three in the first Test, and in the second clash, he was demoted to number eight.