When some think of Anil Kumble, they recall the 10 for 74 against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999. Others summon up the image of him bowling with his jaw bandaged up in Antigua after a bouncer had broken it. For this correspondent though, the emblematic image of Kumble is of him framed against the harsh Australian sun in Adelaide in December 2003.
He was already past 33 by then, and had lost his status as the team’s premier spinner to Harbhajan Singh, who had taken 32 wickets in a three-Test series against Australia in February-March 2001.
Kumble, who had been a stalwart of the side for nearly a decade, was recovering from shoulder surgery at the time, but he gave the younger man valuable support from the sidelines.
Kumble returned to the team in South Africa in November 2001, but as the months ticked by, it became apparent that Harbhajan was now the default option, in all forms of the game.
Kumble played no part in the Tests on the tour of New Zealand that preceded the 2003 World Cup, and when India opted to play just one specialist spinner in the latter stages of the global competition, it was Harbhajan that got the nod.
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Harbhajan pulled out of the Adelaide match with a finger injury that would require surgery, and Kumble came in for his first overseas Test in 15 months. The first day was one of the worst India have had to endure, with Australia smashing their way to 400 for 5. At that stage, Kumble’s figures were 28-1-115-1. On a placid surface, he hadn’t looked especially threatening, and he didn’t manage to stem the run flow either. Those convinced that his best years were behind him seemed vindicated.
Soon after lunch on the second afternoon, Australia had progressed to 556 for 7, with Ricky Ponting 242 not out. Then, Kumble came on to bowl his 43rd over of the innings. Australia didn’t add a run to the total as he took three in the over, including Ponting, and the sudden momentum shift was instrumental in lifting the dressing-room mood in a remarkable match that India would go on to win by four wickets.
That tenacity, the ability to keep plugging away no matter how adverse the circumstances, was one the primary reasons why the Indian cricket board’s advisory committee — comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman — recommended Kumble as the next coach of the men’s national side.
A presentation that focused on the challenges ahead probably helped, but those that played alongside him for more than a decade didn’t need PowerPoint slides to form their opinion of the man. Ravi Shastri had done a tremendous job as team director and was favourite to take over the head coach role until Kumble, with no experience of shepherding a side at the top level, entered the fray.
The one-year contract given to him perhaps indicates reservations about his lack of coaching credentials, but the spin twin he once mentored had little doubt that Indian cricket had made the right choice.
“With no disrespect to anyone, Anil Kumble will forever remain India’s greatest ever match-winner in Test cricket,” Harbhajan said to the Press Trust of India (PTI).
“And he will bring that hunger to win in this team also. Virat [Kohli, the Test captain] will get to learn a lot from the man himself. Virat doesn’t believe in draws and neither did Anil bhai (Kumble). He will be Virat’s ideal friend, philosopher and guide.”
At 45, Kumble is eight years younger than Shastri, and is roughly the same age that John Wright was when he started the process of transforming Indian cricket in 2000.
Kumble has often spoken of the influence that the soft-spoken-but-firm Kiwi had on his career, and Harbhajan was certain that Kumble’s wards would learn the right lessons.
“Often, there were times in overseas conditions, when a single spinner played and Anil bhai had to sit out because of team composition,” he said. “I have never seen him get upset or lose his cool. His attitude in those times had been: If it benefits the team, he is game. That’s what is being a perfect team man.”
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