Anil Kumble has been the main stay of Indian Cricket for nearly two decades. His retirement is certainly a big loss to Indian Cricket. He is undoubtedly the best Indian bowler and one of the best in world cricket. For those who love statistics he is the third highest wicket taker in Test Cricket till date. Only Mutiah Murlidharan and Share Warne are ahead of him. He might not be a big turner of the cricket ball like Shane Warne but he more than made up for this with his sheer determination and fighting spirit.
As a child I grew up watching Sachin bat and Kumble ball. Today I certainly feel a small hollow in my heart as my childhood heroes are gradually moving away from the limelight. At the end of the India-Australia series another legend of Indian Cricket, arguably the best Indian Cricket captain and certainly the best left handed batsman that India has ever produced Saurav Ganguly will also retire. Sachin Tendulkar might just play for another season or so, but Dravid's exit is certainly also round the corner.
Need not to say Anil Kumble is the best Indian bowler of all times aggregating a total of 619 wickets from 132 tests. He also has a toatl of 337 wickets from 271 ODIs. He holds the best bowling figure for India in both forms of Cricket. He is the only second bowler in Test Cricket history to have clinched ten wickets in an innings, the other being Englishman Jim Laker. He achieved this feat in the very ground where he has played his last match i.e., Feroz Shah Kotla stadium at Delhi, one of his favourite hunting grounds.
I was lucky to have watched Kumble achieving the feat of 6/12 against West Indies in the Titan Cup '92 and also the 10 wicket haul against Pakistan. His top speaners at that time were simply unplayable. Although many would say that he is not a conventional spinner and is more like a medium pacers. He extracted quite a lot of bounce from the pitch and made life of batsman very difficult specially in Indian tracks. In recent years he had also improvised his googly and generated considerable sidespin aswell. His lethal weapon in his early career days was undoubtly his fast yorkers that batsman of even Brain Lara's stature failed to judge.
His retirement will certainly mark the end of an era. He has been a consistent match winner for India in Test Cricket for 18 long years. It is to be seen now as to how India can make up for this loss. Anyway all good things must come to an end and I wish Kumble all the best for his post-retirement life.
Jumbo I will miss you.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
