A man apart
Even in this brave new world of Indian cricket, Anil Kumble remains a man apart
Dileep Premachandran in Mohali
11-Mar-2006
![]() |
![]()
|
The jaw hadn't even been wired, and
wrapped up in surgical gauze, he looked a bit like an extra from The
Mummy. The pain, especially with the jarring movements that comprise a
bowling action, must have been excruciating, but he still managed the
wicket of Brian Lara before wiser counsel prevailed. It was an image that
remains etched in the mind, of a wounded warrior forgetting that
sometimes, even the strong have to yield.
In many ways, it was wholly appropriate that Kumble's 500th Test wicket
came against a batsman prodding forward hesitantly to be trapped leg
before by a ball that did little. Shane Warne may have the ripping
legbreaks, and Murali his viciously spun doosras, but Kumble's nearly
straight ball - variations in pace, and how it kicks off the pitch - has
been no less effective, flummoxing more than a generation of batsmen
dating back to 1990.
India's spin legacy is perhaps richer than that of any other nation, but
what has made Kumble exceptional is that indefatigable zeal with which he
has approached every game. Even in the dark days of the 1990s, when a
succession of captains used him as a stock bowler in overseas climes,
there was no hint of the drooping shoulder or the petulant sulk. There
have been fancy Dans, Indian and otherwise, who shirked the tough asks and
the rainy days, making the most of the good ones, but that was never the
Kumble way. "I'm happy that I never played my cricket in such a selfish
manner ," he told Cricinfo on the occasion of his 100th Test. "I was aware that part of my responsibility each time we walked out involved bowling a certain number of overs. And when we didn't succeed, I was as disappointed as anyone else."
Given Harbhajan Singh's travails in recent times, it's easy to forget just
how Kumble suffered in the aftermath of the shoulder surgery that saw him
sit out the series against Steve Waugh's Australians in 2001. With
Harbhajan firmly ensconced in the side, Kumble missed both Tests and
one-day games where India opted to play only one spinner, and after the
humiliation of sitting out nearly the entire World Cup campaign, he
flirted with the idea of retirement. The profile in courage at Antigua had
been about proving a point as much as anything else, after he was
consigned to the dressing room in the previous two Tests.
And but for Harbhajan suffering a wear-and-tear injury of his own before
the Adelaide Test of 2003, the final scenes of the Kumble story may well
have been a slow fade to black. Granted an unexpected opportunity though,
he was like a man dying of thirst lapping up water from an oasis not found
on any map. There were 24 wickets from three Tests in that series, and by
the time the last words had been written on Steve Waugh's swansong, Kumble
was once again indispensable to Indian hopes.
![]() |
![]()
|
Back in the harsh spotlight that he has always relished, and despite the
occasional unkind barb from jealous former greats, he flourished. Starting
with Adelaide, and a crucial role in one of India's most celebrated
victories, he picked up 127 wickets in the 22 games that led up to that
100th appearance at the Motera Stadium. More confident with the googly and
more inclined to experiment, he worked his way through opposition batsmen
at a rate - a wicket every 54 balls - that would be exceptional even for a
fast bowler.
With the exception of Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke, and the Pakistani
triumvirate of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq, few played
him with any degree of comfort or assurance. And while the urge to mix it
up and stymie predictable responses - for years, coaches have urged
players to play him as they would an inswing bowler - resulted in a few
more runs being leaked, it also made him a genuine wicket-taking threat
capable of running through sides as he had in his '90s heyday.
After such sustained excellence, a blip was inevitable, and it came on
sluggish and true pitches in Pakistan, where even whole-hearted effort
wasn't enough to prevent unflattering figures of 9 for 629. Younis and
Yousuf negotiated his variations with ease, and Shahid Afridi pillaged as
only he can, but even amid mounting frustration, Kumble never compromised
on workload or effort, wheeling away for a remarkable 143 overs. Figures
of 2 for 189 at Nagpur, not to mention the anger at Kevin Pietersen's
return catch being denied and others being spilled, weren't uplifting
either, but there was not a trace of tentativeness when he was tossed the
ball at Mohali.
The superb googly to Ian Bell and the special legbreak that saw off Paul
Collingwood hinted at better times, and the vigour with which he bounded
in for that historic three-wicket over merely confirmed England's worst
fears. After a winter of relative hibernation, Anil Kumble is back for
more moments in the sun. At Antigua, Sunil Gavaskar had said: "He seemed
to wear the Indian tricolour on his chest." Such remarks usually elicit a
shy smile from the man, but there's no denying the inherent truth of those
words. Even in this brave new world of Indian cricket, he remains a man
apart.
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo