Anil Kumble hits out at India’s playing XI as team picks six left-handers for first time in history: ‘Who’s going to bat at No.3?’

Indian cricket legend Anil Kumble found it tough to wrap his head around India’s playing XI for the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens as Sai Sudharsan was dropped on Friday.

While India made a new record by fielding six left-handers in their Test side for the first time, Kumble wondered who would be India’s No.3.

Kumble slams India for dropping Sudharsan in Kolkata

The playing XI displayed on the official pre-match showed Washington Sundar as the No.3, but Kumble was baffled that Sai Sudharsan was dropped after just a few matches at the top of the order since making his debut earlier this year in England.

“Really surprised at the lineup because I certainly expected Sai Sudharsan to be playing in this Test match. Who’s going to bat at No.3? That will be the question. Washington Sundar has been slotted to bat at No.3 so India will be bowling first. 4 spinners and 2 fast bowlers,” Kumble said on Star Sports.

“I certainly expected 3 spinners to play and 2 fast bowlers. So, that’s going to be a bit of a challenge. Day 1, the wicket is good. It’s not like you need 4 spinners and one of them will certainly get under-bowled. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how Shubman Gill uses his resources on Day 1. Of course, the 2 new ball bowlers will become that much more critical on day 1 for India,” Kumble added.

The former India captain was also not happy with a large number of all-rounders in the playing XI.

“It’s all-rounders. I mean, if you look at the batting lineup, Washington Sundar has been slotted at 3. So, obviously, if he bats at 3, then the batters are Shubman, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. The rest of them are all-rounders. I consider Rishabh Pant as an all-rounder,” said Kumble.

“Dhruv Jhurel is an all-rounder. Then you have Jadeja, Akshar Patel and Washington Sundar. So, it’s a team full of all-rounders, and that’s probably the kind of team that India is going with in all 3 formats of the game,” he added.

Most left-handed batters in an India playing XI in Tests:

6* vs SA at Kolkata, 2025*

5 vs ENG at Manchester, 2025

5 vs WI at Ahmedabad, 2025

5 vs WI at Delhi, 2025