Anil Kumble: A Never-say-Die campaigner

(Karthik Narayan)

The Dew Drops on the petal are so wonderful, but they are so delicate and are broken immediately on the touch. Still, it is something to see and enjoy. The human version of a Dew Drop cricketer has to be Anil Radhakrishnan Kumble, who is so delicate and precious that we do not want him to disappear! The collection of a few of these precious things together becomes a spectacular sight that can be felt only by the eyes. Anil Kumble's performances are delight in the eyes of the fans and soreness in the eyes of the critics.

To come up against abuse is something to do with immense mental strength! And Anil Kumble has it aplenty, abound, abundance like the water in the ocean. In his college days they called him a chucker – he didn’t care any less. Then at the international level, they said he was not a spinner but a medium pace bowler. He didn’t care for it. Everyone said he was a guy who can't turn the ball at all, but he never cared for that. He was kept out of the team when there was the need of only one spinner, still he did not care. He was said to be a bowler who fared badly overseas, still he always kept quiet. He just kept on trying silently with the doggedness that only he can show… that sheer gut!

India has always been known for its production of great spinners. Starting of with the spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkatraghavan to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, all have been quality spinners and among the best during their times. Today, Anil Kumble has become the third spinner in the world to get to 500 test wickets, and the first Indian spinner to do so. Anil Radhakrishnan Kumble became the second Indian to breach the coveted 400-test wickets mark after Kapil Dev and now has overtaken him to become India's leading wicket taker in both ODI's and tests.

Bangalore is his Garden of all Sorts as far as landmarks goes. His 100th, 300th and 400th wickets have all come at this venue. The only thing he missed out was his 200th wicket, which came at Harare.

Anil Kumble is a total workhorse, working endlessly with all the patience to wait till the last day on earth for a wicket. Noone can forget the 4th Test at Antigua in 2002, where he came out to bowl for the Indians with a fractured jaw, and with bandages all over his face. The commitment and desire to excel in the game is something which can be associated very much with Anil Kumble. Simply he is the very image of tolerance and patience which are the spinner's most important assets. Patience holds the key, one has to bowl even a full day to get a wicket, and every wicket is so precious for a bowler, and more importantly for a spinner.

His best moment for indian cricket definitely came during the Hero Cup of 1993 against the WI when he took the best bowling figures by any Indian six wickets for 12 runs! An excellent performance by our dear Kumble, no doubt.

It all started one fine Morning as a 19 year old against Sri Lanka (ODIs) and against England (tests) in 1990, when a tall, engineering student with glasses wore the Indian Sleeved Sweater and bowled a few overs against the likes of Gooch, Alan Lamb (his first wicket in tests was Alan lamb). Playing once in a year or so, slowly he built his wickets to come and bided for his time. The "Turning Point" in his career was the 7 wickets in the 1992-93 Johannesburg Test, the 2nd of the series against SA. That kick-started him really to go ahead and conquer greater heights.

His ODI exploits have been very clear - to bowl his best, attack and get the wickets. He was always a potential match winner who never disappointed his team and his captain.

Whoever thought of Kumble as a muck with the bat should be shown the video clips of the Titan Cup in 1996 when Kumble and Srinath played the Aussies defiantly and made India win.

Look at his test match performances - His Feroh Shah Kotla performance 1999 against Pakistanis is never to be forgotten… 10 on Ten! The entire batsmen in the scorecard were his! I have never seen anything like that, truly world class!

His first 100 wickets took him just 21 tests, the next 100 took 26, then just 19! And his last 100 have come off 19 as well… that is an indication that age is no bar to this Great Bowler!

Anil is mellowing with age, and extreme work pressure and load that it has taken its toll all over these 17 years, and more than 4000 overs bowled by him, but I am sure he shall rise behind the screen and prove his mettle every now and then.

The English dubbed him more of a medium pacer and so did the Aussies. He made them eat all their words with a sound performance against the Aussies when India toured Aus in the fag end of 2003. His past performances were all thrown to a corner as he picked up a heap of wickets, as many as 23 wickets which included 3 five wicket hauls and a 10-wicket haul in the 4th Test at Sydney.

Hats off to one of the finest bowler of this era! I personally pay tribute to Anil Kumble for his bright record filled past and wish him well for the rest of his cricketing future! Indian cricket is definitely going to be left with a void with the last of our best artillery of spinners laying down his arms in the shorter version. Soon it would be time for him to hang up his boots for good. I just whisper a silent prayer that Indian cricket wakes up to the perils ahead and finds a suitable replacement.