Bengaluru: "I think Virat Kohli has been exceptional. He has shown a lot of maturity in handling situations. Afghanistan was a tough game... a low-scoring game. India used the resources well and defended really well. They used only five bowlers and used them effectively. The selection has been consistent throughout the tournament. Having lost Shikhar (Dhawan) after the Australia game, the rest of the players have stood up. Virat has only five bowlers and doesn't have the sixth option. Only if Vijay Shankar or Kedar Jadhav play, he has the sixth pick. I think he utilises five options really well," said former India great Anil Kumble on Sunday, ahead of the India-New Zealand semi-final at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
"New Zealand are really dependent on Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor. If you pick up openers early on, your spinners come into picture. The aggressive option would be (Mohammad) Shami, Hardik (Pandya), (Jasprit) Bumrah and two wrist spinners (Kuldeep) Yadav and (Yuzvendra) Chahal," the leggie opined.
On his pick to lift the World Cup trophy, he said, "It's going to be tough. India have a great chance. England, of course, would be the favourites. You never know... Australia have done well in this World Cup. Before the start of WC, nobody gave them a chance. They did have a good series against India and Pakistan in the UAE. But then you don't give much importance to a bilateral series. Of course, they came back really well against India when they were 0-2 down and won the series. With two players (Steve Smith and David Warner) coming back, you would always give Australia a chance. Over the last one year, the Australain team suffered because these two quality players were not there," the Bengaluru boy said.
On Ambati Rayudu' unexpected retirement, he said, "It's very disappointing that somebody had to call time on his career in that fashion. If I was Ambati Rayudu, I too would be disappointed for not making it to the World Cup squad. When India picked its fifteen, I thought he would be part of that squad. But having been part of a standby, suffering two injuries and still not making it is obviously disappointing. I hope that one of the selectors has spoken to Rayudu."
On Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur's take on the net run rate, Kumble said, "This has been there for all tournaments, not just World Cups. The net run rate gives you sort of a balanced, consistent view as to how a team has played throughout the tournament. As far head to head, even if Pakistan had lost to New Zealand, they could not have qualified on NRR. Everybody knew at the start of the tournament that this was the rule and not thrown before the semi-finals. Because of rain, it became an issue. For Pakistan, it was really bad or really good, and no in-betweens. They lost badly to India and Windies. After two poor games, Pakistan started winning, while New Zealand too had a couple of poor games."
On the call for reserve days for league matches at the World Cup, Kumble, who is the Brand Ambassador for CricketNext and commentator for Kings of Cricket on CNN News 18, said, "Logistically, it's impossible because it's a long tournament. I think four best teams have qualified, and between Pakistan and New Zealand, one of them have made it. It's not as if someone who had the advantage of rain has come through to the semi-finals."
