The colossus delivers again

Last night, Anil Kumble's critics - and there are still a fair few pesky individuals around, eyes opaque from too many pints of nostalgia - were challenging his assertion that India could defend 300 runs on the final day at the Eden Gardens. Not having learnt anything from large lashings of humble pie, they defied him to walk the talk. Today, such sad individuals will once again be scurrying for shadows to blend into after India's greatest-ever bowler thumbed his nose at the cynics for the umpteenth time.

Kumble has built a career on his ability to quieten the naysayers, delivering time and again when asked to. Almost every single Indian victory of consequence since 1993 has had his inimitable imprint on it, and today, his contribution was that of a colossus. Starting with a fiendishly clever delivery darted down the leg side - the manner in which Dinesh Karthik affected the stumping suggested that some thought had gone into the dismissal - which flummoxed Younis Khan, he was relentless, probing away with the boundless enthusiasm and tremendous accuracy that are his calling cards. No batsman mastered him, not Inzamam-ul-Haq - whose hesitant innings was ended by an equally half-hearted prod - and certainly not Yousuf Youhana, whose out-of-character stodginess was halted by a faint tickle that flew to forward short leg off the pad.

But to suggest that this was some one-man show would be a grave injustice. Lakshmipathy Balaji did the hard yards in conditions that offered little encouragement, picking up Taufeeq Umar with a magnificent delivery, while Harbhajan Singh - despite being some way below his usual Eden self - bottled up one end and constantly harassed Asim Kamal, who ground out the most accomplished and composed innings on view.

It was Kumble, though, who never allowed any batsman to impose their own rhythm, varying his pace, trajectory and line constantly. The flighted delivery would be followed by the express one, and that which accounted for a flabbergasted Abdul Razzaq was a throwback to his mid-1990s halcyon years when batsmen grew accustomed to looking back and seeing their stumps splayed in grotesque fashion.

Back in those days, however, there was always the insinuation that Kumble merely profited from designer dustbowls that made a mockery of Test cricket - never mind that India invariably totalled in excess of 500 on them. Today, there was no scope for such back-handed compliments. Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Khalil and Danish Kaneria, who aren't exactly in the Sunil Gavaskar class when it comes to playing the turning ball, played out 107 deliveries between them on a pitch that was up-and-down - like most fifth-day surfaces - without ever being unplayable.

At Mohali, Kumble has fallen a little short of his own exceptional standards, stymied by a placid pitch and a lack of consistent support. Here, there was enough in the surface to prompt a spinner to unveil his repertoire, but even then, with a touch of luck and without the periodic interventions from a tireless individual, Pakistan could certainly have pulled off a second successive great escape.

In recent times, Kumble has experimented far more than he once did, often sacrificing metronomic accuracy for variation. Here, there was both, and he conceded only 161 runs from the 75.1 overs that he bowled in the match. Pakistan, who had no answers when he scalped 14 for 149 at Delhi six years ago, still play him with a distinct lack of assurance. While his 460 career wickets have cost him 27.76 apiece, the 53 against Pakistan have come at 23.34, and a stunning strike-rate of 48.21.

Mind you, none of those figures will mean anything to the blind snipers. Only Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne of the modern-day titans have won matches more often than Kumble, but while they are rightly venerated where they come from, Kumble will have to keep shutting nonsense-spewing mouths till the day he walks off a cricket pitch for the last time. Being the champion that he is, even that will probably be with the match-ball in hand.