An era is starting to come to an end and the end has begun a week earlier than anticipated. The ‘Golden Generation’ of Indian cricket is all but there at the sunset and while one anticipated the first departure to be the ‘Prince of Calcutta’, Anil Kumble seems to have beaten him to the punch. A man of complete dignity and plenty of class, Anil Kumble is without a doubt the first name you would pencil down in case you were picking a team to win a test match and your life depended on it. That is all the more true if it was a test match to be played on a track with little turn and good bounce. Dubbed as ‘Cobra’ for the spit and the bite in his deliveries and ‘Jumbo’ for the way they took off from good length, Kumble was the master of bowling on a surface with rough on it.
Yet, the journey for India’s greatest match winner ever has not been easy as he constantly had to prove himself despite accomplishing all he did. Bowling is an unattractive art in India, playing second-fiddle to the glam boys with the bat in their hand. Indians are never appreciative enough of their bowlers, especially not the ones with a calm and dignified persona devoid of sensationalism. If you are not he one popping up in the ads once every 10 minutes, you are just not good enough. If the media does not rave about you and if you are not often enough on the cover page, then you are not performing well enough. Batsman, former players and negative cricket journalists play the lead in the India Cricket soap-opera and bowlers come in last to fill up the gaps.
There are several reasons why Anil Kumble does not get his due, apart from his humble nature that allows him to take a backseat to many others. India has been a nation obsessed with One-Day game for much of the 90’s and the 2000’s and the shorter form is an all-batsman’s game most often. Then there is the middle order which steals the show in the Test cricket and an audience that never seems to understand that it takes 20 wickets to win a Test match, not 800 runs. Anil has been a part of 43 Indian Test wins by taking over 600 test wickets. His ODI record is equally impressive. Add to that a Test match century and you know he is all quality.
Kumble career has been often noted for his ‘lack of certain abilities’ than for what special qualities he has. Like life, Test cricket and the critics around it can be cruel on talent that is not usual. He has been accused for not being able to spin the ball enough, for lack of the traditional loop and flight that makes a leg-spinner a visual delight and for his unconventional methods. Yet, all the flight, spin and technical perfection at times could not achieve all that Kumble did- 619 Test match wickets. Only two bowlers were more successful and those being fellow spinners Warne and Murali. Anil might not have been beautiful to watch in the definition of a traditional leg-spinner, but he was effective, accurate and most of all successful.
Any captain would tell you that at the end of the day, you really don’t care for the style as long as your bowler is getting you wickets and any opposition player would testify that they would much rather play a more conventional leg-spinner who never took their wicket than Kumble who was a relentless threat. No word it seems described Anil Kumble better than ‘Relentless’. At his peak, he would create a cauldron of pressure for the batsman to bat out of and more often than not, they succumbed to the ruthless attack.
Kumble was a team man all throughout and his bowling with a broken jaw in the Windies is a single act of courage that is etched in our mind as one of the ultimate symbols of commitment, pride and dedication to the country. While many, many other cricketers would have been happy in a hospitable bed or a flight back home, Anil went in to try and win a test match for India. Add to that the fact that he picked up Brian Lara in that condition and it pretty much sums the skill and will of Kumble.
While that one moment summed up ‘Jumbo’, his retirement was in the exact same fashion. He decided that he was no longer was giving his best for his country and in that single moment he decided he would quit- No fuss or drama attached. Time and battles have had a toll on his body which is no longer willing to obey the mind in the heat of the combat. Like a complete team man, he called it a day the moment he thought he was being a liability to his side. As India’s greatest match-winner hangs up its boots, all one can say is – We will miss the warrior with a Jumbo Heart!
