India have to get their act together if they want to play WTC Final: Anil Kumble

Former India captain Anil Kumble has slammed the team after losing their Test series against New Zealand. Kumble has said that India need to get their act together if they want to reach the final of the World Test Championship.

In Short

• India lost to New Zealand in the Pune Test match
• This was India's first home series loss since 2012
• Anil Kumble has slammed the Indian team for their performance

Former India captain Anil Kumble was not happy with the team's performance against New Zealand in the Pune Test. Kumble slammed India after their series defeat against Tom Latham's side, the first in the history of Indian cricket. Speaking on Jio Cinema, Kumble said that the Indian team needed to get their act together before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The Indian team relinquished their home dominance after losing their first Test series in 11 years. Kumble criticised the team's batting unit and said that it was high time that the batting showed up after Indian bowlers had consistently taken 20 wickets in a Test match.

Kumble also lauded the World Test Championship format and said that it has made every Test match equally important.

"I think that's the beauty about WTC. I know the series is done for India, but then every Test match is equally important. They have obviously made it harder for themselves. At the start of the series, we spoke about getting five wins for you to really sail into the championship final. But now if you need those four wins in the next six matches, that becomes even tougher because the one is at the Wankede Stadium against this extremely confident New Zealand side and then five against Australia in Australia," Anil Kumble said on Jio Cinema.

IND vs NZ, 2nd Test 3rd Day: Highlights | Scorecard

"I know India has done really well in the last two series that they played in Australia but again it's all the more tougher for India to qualify, but they have to really get their act together. The batting has been disappointing. The bowling will have its challenges right throughout. The reason that India is on the top there is because Indian bowlers have been able to pick up those 20 wickets. The batting needs to come together and start getting those runs," he further added.

India will now desperately look to win the final Test match against New Zealand. They need at least 4 wins in the remaining 6 Test matches to make sure that they directly qualify for the final of the World Test Championship 2025. India cannot afford to lose game from here on, and if they do, they will need to depend on other teams to qualify for the final of the tournament.