The test match was turning out a boring affair with every passing ball, with every finishing over. India continued to bat even at the stroke of tea. When I was about to turn the TV off, the giant screen at the Feroz Shah Kotla flashed news which caused pain, anguish before I could absorb the fact that my most favorite cricketer of all time, Anil Kumble was going to retire with immediate effect.
There were many great cricketers who graced the playing fields, mesmerized the followers with their magic, be it in batting, bowling or fielding. After every one of them retired, there was a big void left not only in those teams but also in world cricket. But Kumble’s retirement took out a legendary presence not just from inside the cricket field but also from outside it. He played with such integrity, honesty that it makes it almost impossible to find an ambassador to cricket any where close to being comparable to Kumble.
His has been a career always questioned, always looked at with an anticipation of a break down as per cricketing laws. Not even the maddest of the gamblers would have bet their money on Kumble playing this long for India. He was bespectacled, looked as if he would be fit more for the front benches of an engineering classroom than for spinning the cricket ball. He was termed as very unorthodox, as a spinner only because he would not come running from a distance to bowl. But Kumble remained unfazed by these comments for he knew he had the abilities and attributes required to be successful at the highest level. He spun the ball just enough to create doubts in the batsmen’s mind, just to sneak in between the bat and pad. He might not have spun the ball across the bat, but he did enough to puzzle the batsmen seducing them to poke at the straighter one to get that edge. People said he didn’t have the loop and said he bowled too fast. It is that zip that got him so many victims LBW and clean bowled. He has been a sage, a person who went about his job with single minded devotion. He knew what he had to do to be successful – take wickets and keep taking them.
Who forgets his 6-12 performance at the Eden Gardens against West Indies in the Hero cup final in 1993, who forgets his world record perfect 10 against Pakistan, who forgets his maiden century at the Oval in England in 2007 at the stroke of 37, when most of the mortals would be happily retired?
Eventually, in Cricket, players are judged by statistics. Though is not fair in all the cases, it more or less sums up a career. By sheer weight of his stats, he is the greatest bowler India has ever produced in its more than 75 years of cricket history. He may not be aesthetically pleasing on the eye while bowling, but he is the biggest match winner for India in test matches and for some time in one dayers too. He has been the flag bearer of Indian bowling for 18 years. I could not remember any other spinner given the responsibility of bowling in the 5th or 6th over of a one day game, consistently, when the batsmen are on rampage. And more times than not, he would give a breakthrough. If his achievements are confined to just numbers and wickets taken on the cricket field, he would have remained as a normal legend. But he is a legend’s legend. A rare sight of competitiveness, burning desire to succeed still allowing to respect your mates and competitors alike. A rare sight of enormous integrity and commitment towards the game of cricket, towards the craft he embraced. A rare sight of combative spirit that would make him bowl even with a displaced jaw … thanks to a nasty bouncer. How many people do you find with all these qualities packaged in one?
All good things have to come to an end and Kumble's career is no exception. The decision to retire might have come just at the right moment, as captain of India, handing over the baton to another able leader. His accomplishments are monumental, almost insurmountable. Carrying forward his legacy as a bowler, player and captain would be one of the biggest challenges team India will face, going forward.
Even after retirement, his love for the team and teammates has not reduced a wee bit. He still loves to be with the team to watch India lift the Border-Gavaskar trophy, to bid Ganguly farewell, and to congratulate Laxman in his 100th test match.
If knighthood is to be conferred upon someone from modern day cricket, Anil Kumble stands first in the list, but for us he is already a knight, a fighter to the core.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Scraping through
Can this phrase be used to describe the Indian team's situation when they were stuck in the bus for hours moving no where in an alien land with their self respect racially damaged and craft taking a back seat?
Horrendous times for any person or team in any walk of life. As if the defeat imposed by non-cricketers, after playing magnificently is not enough, one of theirs had been subjected to an allegation their country proudly stood against for so many years back in history.
With the aggression, not necessarily a cricketing one and the fuming hostility brewing between the two of the best cricketing teams in the world, threatening to turn the green grass lifeless on one of the most beautiful grounds of the world.. omens had been pretty much clear.. There was gonna be a storm.
In adversity, like the one faced by the Indian cricket team after being heart wrenchingly drubbed at Sydney, where in another age nothing less than a win would have been the call.. it's very easy and overwhelming to lay lame,dusted and annihilated.
Just as it transpired, India got the best possible person to have played cricket in the past 20 years, at its helm. A man of utmost dignity, sportsmanship, commitment and integrity. As fans, watching cricket from thousands of miles away from the action, when we were finding it harder and harder by every passing moment to control the emotions, when we were finding it tough to come to terms with what had happened in the space of an hour...this man handled the aggression, anger, disappointment in the only way it should have been.
Hats Off to ANIL KUMBLE.
In diplomacy, the most important aspect would be with out doubt, the art of expression. One may not need to spit out anger by resorting to personal abuse, but when the anger and aggression are channelized, when the emotions are streamlined to a constructive cause, monumental things are in the waiting.
Again, hail the man from Bangalore for providing his teammates comfort and bliss with his behavior, inspiration with his speech and actions and confidence with his thought process.
India came back stronger then ever, defying all odds, defeated Australia in Perth, the once most dreaded pitch where it took Ambrose at his best to defeat Australia more then a decade ago.
With the turmoil and the mental toil taken by the players after the Sydney test, the win has become more than commendable. It might have instilled enormous confidence and a sense of unflinching belief in the younger generation of players as well as in the wading generation.
Besides all these, it has given fans back home happiness, pride, satisfaction, excitement nothing less in quantity and quality than those the 1983 world cup victory provided.
Such is the enormity of character show cased, strength of leadership displayed and quality of craft produced which made this series a very very special one not only for the protagonists but also for every one who crazily follows cricket in this country and around the world.
Horrendous times for any person or team in any walk of life. As if the defeat imposed by non-cricketers, after playing magnificently is not enough, one of theirs had been subjected to an allegation their country proudly stood against for so many years back in history.
With the aggression, not necessarily a cricketing one and the fuming hostility brewing between the two of the best cricketing teams in the world, threatening to turn the green grass lifeless on one of the most beautiful grounds of the world.. omens had been pretty much clear.. There was gonna be a storm.
In adversity, like the one faced by the Indian cricket team after being heart wrenchingly drubbed at Sydney, where in another age nothing less than a win would have been the call.. it's very easy and overwhelming to lay lame,dusted and annihilated.
Just as it transpired, India got the best possible person to have played cricket in the past 20 years, at its helm. A man of utmost dignity, sportsmanship, commitment and integrity. As fans, watching cricket from thousands of miles away from the action, when we were finding it harder and harder by every passing moment to control the emotions, when we were finding it tough to come to terms with what had happened in the space of an hour...this man handled the aggression, anger, disappointment in the only way it should have been.
Hats Off to ANIL KUMBLE.
In diplomacy, the most important aspect would be with out doubt, the art of expression. One may not need to spit out anger by resorting to personal abuse, but when the anger and aggression are channelized, when the emotions are streamlined to a constructive cause, monumental things are in the waiting.
Again, hail the man from Bangalore for providing his teammates comfort and bliss with his behavior, inspiration with his speech and actions and confidence with his thought process.
India came back stronger then ever, defying all odds, defeated Australia in Perth, the once most dreaded pitch where it took Ambrose at his best to defeat Australia more then a decade ago.
With the turmoil and the mental toil taken by the players after the Sydney test, the win has become more than commendable. It might have instilled enormous confidence and a sense of unflinching belief in the younger generation of players as well as in the wading generation.
Besides all these, it has given fans back home happiness, pride, satisfaction, excitement nothing less in quantity and quality than those the 1983 world cup victory provided.
Such is the enormity of character show cased, strength of leadership displayed and quality of craft produced which made this series a very very special one not only for the protagonists but also for every one who crazily follows cricket in this country and around the world.
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