Kumble wants India to pursue the 'Indian way'

India coach Anil Kumble has said he is looking to cultivate a "feeling of Indianness" in the team. That, he said, would involve incorporating the "best practices" in Indian culture into the way the players play and interact with each other.

"It is important we create an Indian way," Kumble told Hindustan Times. "I don't mean to say sledging is not Indian culture or is somebody else's culture. What I meant is, you would want to bring a feeling of Indianness - that is, extended family, respect for one another.

"Take all the best practices in Indian culture, mesh them in a way that all of us own what we want to be seen as, known as, how do we want to play the game, how do we want to practice, how do we want to be seen as an Indian team.

"The best practices in the Indian family would be, generally, follow whatever elders say, but here we want to be a bit more open and express our views even if they differ from that of the seniors. Here it is having family values and say, if a senior has taken a decision, I will follow it. However, you should also have the freedom to disagree but in a more civilised way, where everyone has the opportunity to express himself."

India left for the tour of the West Indies earlier this week, following a five-day training camp in Bangalore. Kumble said he was pleasantly surprised by the players' receptiveness to new ideas during that camp.

"This group is very open to ideas and, I must confess, given the current generation and the way they are perceived, I thought getting them into a room for an hour or so and seriously discussing certain issues would not be easy and after ten minutes or so, they won't be listening or responding. But I was surprised to see that not only were they very receptive and embraced new ideas, but we spent more time than what was stipulated."