Lion-hearted cricketer

The third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series between India and Australia was meandering towards a tame draw and attention was gradually shifting to the fourth and final match of the series at Nagpur starting on November 6. However, an unexpected announcement by one of cricket’s legends – Anil Kumble – changed all that in a hurry, as the former India captain shocked the cricketing fraternity by stating that he would retire at the end of the Delhi Test.

However shocking this announcement may have been, it was delivered with the same poise, elegance and class that became synonymous with Kumble through his 19-years long international career. Kumble will go down in the record books as a gentleman cricketer, which is by no means an ordinary feat in the modern era. He will also be remembered as a lion-hearted player and a star performer who never backed down from challenges or was fazed by the criticism that was directed his way.
Citing Kumble’s impressive statistics at the international level really aren’t needed to prove the value he brought to the Indian team – but for the record, ‘Jumbo’ as he is called by his teammates, took more than 1,000 international wickets in his long and distinguished career.

Kumble finished his Test career with 619 wickets in 132 matches, and in doing so became not only the first Indian bowler to take 600 Test wickets but also had the satisfaction of being the second-most capped player for his country in the longest version of the game.

These numbers are the best answer that Kumble could have given to those detractors who wrote him off throughout his career for either not being a turner of the cricket ball or the fact that he was a medium-pacer in a spinner’s garb! It is a tribute to the man’s dedication to the game and his self-confidence that he went back to the drawing board and worked on his action and deliveries until he turned himself into a silent assassin on any pitch across the world. If Sachin Tendulkar has borne the pressure of shouldering India’s batting fortunes for most of his career, Kumble was a match-winner with the ball for the country – his performances won India 43 of the 132 Test matches he featured in — as he turned his arm over and over again despite the body niggles and injuries. Who can forget the inspirational sight of Kumble bowling with a fractured jaw in the Caribbean as he tried to bowl his side to an elusive win in the West Indies and took the prized wicket of Brian Lara in the process?
Kumble was successful not only as a bowler, but was also more than a useful lower-order batsman, who didn’t really do justice to his talent with the bat. But, he did make one Test century and the delight on his face and that of his teammates when he achieved that feat will be one of the indelible memories that will be etched in my mind.

‘Jumbo’ had always harboured dreams of captaining India, and that wish came true late last year when he was appointed India’s Test skipper. If one thought Kumble was Mr Cool and carried himself with self-assurance and commanded respect from opponents and teammates alike, the grace with which he handled himself during India’s acrimonious tour of Australia earlier in the year, only reinforced that fact. He came out of the episode with renewed confidence in his abilities as a cricketer and a leader, and also with the increased respect of is teammates.

However, in recent times, Kumble was feeling the heat as his abilities to take wickets appeared to hit a brick wall. To compound matters, there were increasing calls for him to quit international cricket, and allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take over the reins of the Test team as well. Kumble hit back at his critics through his syndicated newspaper columns in which he said he will go on his own terms. Well, that’s exactly what he did on the afternoon of November 2, as a country of a billion people began to understand the implication of that decision.
And, to be honest, I was one of Kumble’s critics, who felt he was overstaying his welcome, not because of his age but mainly because of his loss of form with the ball. But, the sight of Kumble being carried around the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in New Delhi was a reality check in that the team would now be without a champion bowler who had shouldered the burden of carrying India’s bowling fortunes all these years. India does have replacements for Kumble in Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla, but the duo would know they have huge shoes to fill.

Kumble leaves behind a legacy of not only being India’s most successful Test bowler, but through his stellar career he demonstrated that there is no substitute for hard work, self-confidence and determination, and more importantly that one can reach record-breaking heights without resorting to under-handed tactics on the field. As he bids adieu to the international stage and leaves a void that will be hard to fill, we have decided to make Kumble our Cricketer of the Week as a salute to the lion-hearted cricketer from Karnataka, who was respected and admired not only by his teammates and Indians around the world, but also by the global cricketing fraternity. Thank you for the memories, ‘Jumbo’!