Former Indian cricketer and spin-bowling legend, Anil Kumble, has voiced his opinion on the future of Indian cricket, urging the management to focus on building a fresh and young team for the 2027 cricket World Cup. Kumble’s remarks come on the back of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, where India are currently vying for their second global title in two years. Kumble stressed that Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir will need to make some tough calls in order to bring in fresh talent. 

"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,” Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo.

"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 advised Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir to introduce new faces so that the team is ready for the ODI World Cup 2027. 

"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 (Gambhir) 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."