Anil Kumble Retired from International Cricket on Nov 2, 2008. He played his last test at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. Kotla was Kumble’s favourite ground. He took 60 wickets from just 8 tests played at Kotla. Kumble was the spearhead of Indian Spin bowling in the last two decades. He was a player with great dedication to the game. Bowling and broken jaw won’t go together. But 6 years back at Antigua; he came out to bowl with a broken jaw and got rid of master batsmen Lara. Kumble has 619 wickets in Tests and more than 300 wickets in LOIs. He played 41 Tests fewer than Kapil Dev to go past Kapil's Indian record of 434 wickets; he bowled India to more victories than the entire spin quartet of the 1970s, yet he was condemned to being defined by negatives. The pundits told us he did not spin the ball, that he did not have the classic leg spinner’s loop, that he did not bowl slowly enough to get the ball to bite. Kumble was described by what he did not do rather than by what he did. He played for 3 English county teams; Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Surrey. He plays for Bangalore Royal Challengers in IPL.
Why do we underrate Kumble, India's greatest match-winner? There are two reasons. One is the nature of the man himself. Kumble is undemonstrative and quietly confident rather than a noisy performer drawing attention to his deeds. The other is the nature of the aesthetics of cricket appreciation. This involves snobbery of a kind that is not associated with any other sport. It is more blessed to make a stirring 30 full of poetry-provoking strokes than a dogged half-century that might lead to a victory. This is the game's conceit - it is better to score a flamboyant 25 than to win, or to bowl that extravagant googly that has 50,000 spectators catching their breath than to get a batsman bowled with a straight delivery.
Why do we underrate Kumble, India's greatest match-winner? There are two reasons. One is the nature of the man himself. Kumble is undemonstrative and quietly confident rather than a noisy performer drawing attention to his deeds. The other is the nature of the aesthetics of cricket appreciation. This involves snobbery of a kind that is not associated with any other sport. It is more blessed to make a stirring 30 full of poetry-provoking strokes than a dogged half-century that might lead to a victory. This is the game's conceit - it is better to score a flamboyant 25 than to win, or to bowl that extravagant googly that has 50,000 spectators catching their breath than to get a batsman bowled with a straight delivery.
It will not be so easy for Dhoni and his blokes to play without great players like Kumble and Ganguly. Two seniors will hang up their boots after this series. Even Australia is finding it difficult fill the gap of Mc Grath and Shane Warne. We cannot compare the domestic cricket of Australia and India. Huge differences are there. When Aussies are struggling to find new prodigies how India will face such a situation???
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