Anil Kumble’s elevation welcome

The re-nomination of Anil Kumble for the final tenure as the ICC's Chairman of Cricket Committee at the recently held ICC Board Meeting in Dubai is welcome. The move comes at a crucial stage of World Cup in 2019, with a wide spectrum of cricketing talent emerging from Indian cricket and the need for experts helming at the ICC. 

Amongst other functions, the primary responsibility of ICC's Cricket Committee remains to promote and envisage cricket as a sporting event across the world and ensure adherence to governance and regulations set by ICC in all formats. Anil Kumble's nomination to the Cricket Committee is highly appreciable, as also with the nomination of other notable experts from India to  ICC Board/ Committee like Shashank Manohar (Chairman), Indra Nooyi (as Independent Director), Rahul Dravid, Shubhangi Kulkarni etc and other members as technical and legal experts. 

As the Committee's function is to look into ways to improve the standards of the game at all levels, it should also focus on improving domestic cricket. The much-debated implementation of DRS to further raise the bar for the gentleman's game and empower the local umpires with technology, should be given primary focus. 

At times, the non-availability of technology has nearly cost the title for some of the deserving teams at domestic level. And as the Chairman of Cricket Committee, for Anil Kumble this is the best opportune moment to bring out such a steering change at domestic level, especially in India and help towards better perception of the game in the eyes of both cricket fraternity and fans.

 - Varun S D, Bengaluru

Shami to play a vital role

After missing a year-and-half of cricket after the World Cup in 2015, India pacer Mohammed Shami has come back a stronger man. The 28-year-old has worked on his fitness and is now relentless with his workload. Be it in Tests or ODIs, the two variants that he plays regularly, Shami has held on to his place in the team because of the exclusive values that he adds to the side’s strength. He finished as the man of the series in the recent ODI series against New Zealand that India won 4-1 and also did well in the first 50-over match against Australia in Hyderabad on Saturday. 

In the match, Shami took the vital wicket of Glenn Maxwell who decimated India in the T20I series and his captain Virat Kohli did not forget to take the spearhead’s name in the post-match presentation. The Bengal pacer is indeed seen as a key member of India’s squad that will be in the quest for the third world title in England and Wales in a few months’ time. Former India pacer Ashish Nehra also seconds the thought that Shami is going to be a vital member of the Indian cricket team in the 2019 World Cup. The 39-year-old lauded Shami for not only his consistent performance over a period of time but also his improved fitness level. 

 - Md Hasiburrehman, Bengaluru