Anil Kumble’s first Test against England in 1990 was not a success and many critics said he would never play a second.
So it was with some satisfaction that Kumble looked back on an 18-year career that took him to No.3 on Test cricket’s alltime list of wicket-takers, a triumph for his fierce determination, intelligence and accuracy, and proof that that there is more than one path for a bowler.
“When I started 18 years ago people said I couldn’t play two Tests for India,” Kumble said.
“I’ve done pretty well over my career.”
For most of his life Kumble’s bowling was described in terms of what he couldn’t do.
He did not turn or flight the ball much, did not drift it, did not drop it.
He certainly did not appeal to the classicist sense of legspin, a la his great contemporary Shane Warne.
But Kumble very seldom bowled a loose ball either and that quality, his suffocating accuracy, was perhaps the chief reason for success.
Kumble was courageous too, once getting Brian Lara out in the West Indies while bowling with a broken jaw, and he never once shirked a contest with ball or bat.
In doing so, he played a key role in shaping a far more streetwise and aggressive Indian team than the one he entered 18 years ago.
“I’d like to be remembered for giving 100 per cent for the team every time I went out, I put team above self, and to have shared dressing with Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and the younger lot I had some fantastic moments, really a privilege to share the dressing room with these greats,” he said.
“I believe Indian cricket has certainly gone further than when I started in 1990, in terms of results, and I can only see that’s going to improve.”
Kumble made his start as a legspin bowler via his brother, who asked him to dabble in the art when they played together as youngsters.
“My brother asked me to bowl legspin,” he said. “In a way I’m still trying to find out how I can bowl legspin.”
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