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One of the most inspiring moments in cricketing history was Anil Kumble bowling with a bandaged face and a broken jaw to no less a batsman than Brian Lara, that too in the hostile terrain of West Indies where victories are uncomfortable with visitors. Not only did Anil Kumble bowl 14 long overs in that Antigua Test but also took Lara’s wicket before being rushed to Bangalore for urgent surgery.
Those who know him will tell you how Kumble is of that mettle. But his greatness is that it refuses to rest on any single pillar. It is a solid amalgamation of rare attributes — grit and determination, competetiveness and professionalism, modesty and honesty; and last but not least, his capacity to inspire everyone on the field despite his gentle demeanour and pragmatism. Yet, Kumble has been called names, his spinning attribute mocked at or simply dismissed into the dustbin of criticism as just a deceitful bounce.
With all this and more, being the third greatest bowler in Test history (619 Test wickets) after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, has done little to add natural or earned arrogance to this man’s unblemished profile despite 18 long years in the middle. At 38, and with the Orchid rare achievement of a 10-wicket haul in a Test match under his belt, the Kumble sunset would long leave its hue over India’s cricketing horizon.
As the underrated legend walked this Sunday with 11 stitches on his index finger and at a ground that gave him his most special moment (10 wicket haul against Pakistan in 1999), there were bound to be lumps in all sorts of throats — throats which may have berated his brand of bowling, his brand of leadership and sometimes even his brand of gentleness in a game high on aggression. But, none at the Feroze Shah Kotla round could stop himself from giving the Banglorean a standing ovation and his due — of being Indian cricket’s most gritty competitor.
Indeed, this India-Australia series has been punctuated with moments and issues that are moving, disturbing and yet so agonisingly inevitable. The series will be remembered more for the painful end of a brilliant phase of Indian cricket, an era plummetting to a close. With greats like Sourav Ganguly and Kumble having big goodbye and the other cricketing poster boys of almost two decades struggling to keep pace against a younger, more forceful tide, it has been quite an emotional outpouring off the field.
It is more than merely disconcerting to come to terms with the fact that we may not see the likes of Dravid, Laxman and may be even Tendulkar in the next series and that would be a big hole in cricket’s ozone layer, a fact our high-on-youth skipper M S Dhoni may miss despite his assertions on the contrary.
As Kumble said this Sunday, “It was a very tough decision, particularly after playing competitive cricket for the last 18 years. But the body gave the decision.”
Yes, age has a strange way of making its presence felt. It tests your determination, it bores holes in your mental strength and it gives you your most excruciating moment in life. It was Kumble’s turn this time and as he waved to the crowd with his split wide open left hand, he became the 2nd of the panchratnas to bow to the years that gave him his raison de etre and also took it away.
In the end, it will be Kumble’s ability to stare down adversities that will shape his retirement behaviour. By what he has shown us on field, it will be as graceful as his playing career was.
Those who know him will tell you how Kumble is of that mettle. But his greatness is that it refuses to rest on any single pillar. It is a solid amalgamation of rare attributes — grit and determination, competetiveness and professionalism, modesty and honesty; and last but not least, his capacity to inspire everyone on the field despite his gentle demeanour and pragmatism. Yet, Kumble has been called names, his spinning attribute mocked at or simply dismissed into the dustbin of criticism as just a deceitful bounce.
With all this and more, being the third greatest bowler in Test history (619 Test wickets) after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, has done little to add natural or earned arrogance to this man’s unblemished profile despite 18 long years in the middle. At 38, and with the Orchid rare achievement of a 10-wicket haul in a Test match under his belt, the Kumble sunset would long leave its hue over India’s cricketing horizon.
As the underrated legend walked this Sunday with 11 stitches on his index finger and at a ground that gave him his most special moment (10 wicket haul against Pakistan in 1999), there were bound to be lumps in all sorts of throats — throats which may have berated his brand of bowling, his brand of leadership and sometimes even his brand of gentleness in a game high on aggression. But, none at the Feroze Shah Kotla round could stop himself from giving the Banglorean a standing ovation and his due — of being Indian cricket’s most gritty competitor.
Indeed, this India-Australia series has been punctuated with moments and issues that are moving, disturbing and yet so agonisingly inevitable. The series will be remembered more for the painful end of a brilliant phase of Indian cricket, an era plummetting to a close. With greats like Sourav Ganguly and Kumble having big goodbye and the other cricketing poster boys of almost two decades struggling to keep pace against a younger, more forceful tide, it has been quite an emotional outpouring off the field.
It is more than merely disconcerting to come to terms with the fact that we may not see the likes of Dravid, Laxman and may be even Tendulkar in the next series and that would be a big hole in cricket’s ozone layer, a fact our high-on-youth skipper M S Dhoni may miss despite his assertions on the contrary.
As Kumble said this Sunday, “It was a very tough decision, particularly after playing competitive cricket for the last 18 years. But the body gave the decision.”
Yes, age has a strange way of making its presence felt. It tests your determination, it bores holes in your mental strength and it gives you your most excruciating moment in life. It was Kumble’s turn this time and as he waved to the crowd with his split wide open left hand, he became the 2nd of the panchratnas to bow to the years that gave him his raison de etre and also took it away.
In the end, it will be Kumble’s ability to stare down adversities that will shape his retirement behaviour. By what he has shown us on field, it will be as graceful as his playing career was.
Published on November 3, 2008
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