'I'm relieved to get past the mark'

For a long time, it looked as though Anil Kumble would have to wait another day for Test wicket No. 435. Then, in the fading light, with the fourth ball of his 12th over, he trapped Mohammad Rafique in front of the stumps. "It's definitely a kind of a relief to get there," said Kumble. "I was really happy that I could get to 434 at Eden Gardens [against South Africa]. It was a really special moment - my family was there, my wife was there. She couldn't travel here, but it's a nice feeling to get to 435."

The crowd was slow-handclapping as he came in to deliver - not because they were egging him on to reach the landmark that would put him on top of the pile of Indian Test wicket-takers, but because Rafique was on 47, and within one cavalier stroke of his half-century. When the wicket fell, courtesy of a rare lbw decision from Aleem Dar, an umpire fast gaining a reputation as a not-outer, Kumble was engulfed by his team-mates.

A moment later he held his hand up to the balcony where John Wright and the rest of the squad applauded. It was a rare Kumble moment, one when he grinned like a child, his dazzling smile taking the sheen off the floodlights at the Bangabandhu Stadium. It was one of those rare moments when Kumble actually showed some emotion on the field. "I'm not a man of emotions," he conceded. "I don't show too many emotions on the field. But I'm really happy with the way things have gone. When I first started I never thought that I would get to this level. I've played with Kapil paaji. My first three or four years were with him, so it's really nice to go past somebody you have looked up to from a young age. To be alongside him and then cross him, after having watched him on TV at one stage, is really good."

However, surpassing Kapil is certainly not going to stop the expectant fans from demanding more. "I'm relieved [to get past the mark] but again people are saying 'Get to 500', so I'll have to put up with it. I just have to go out there and keep getting wickets," said Kumble. And, given the rate at which he is going - 67 wickets in this calendar year already - 500 can't be far away.

When he reached 434, Kumble finally began to receive what he has been denied all his career - recognition as one of India's greatest-ever bowlers. Whenever there was talk of great Indian spin bowlers, his name was conspicuous by its absence, simply because he was not a classical legspinner. But that doesn't bother him one bit. "As long as I am defined as a bowler I am happy," he said. "At the end of the day a bowler is there to get wickets and a batsman is there to get runs. How he does that is immaterial. I am somebody who is different from an orthodox legspinner. There is a feeling that you will be successful only if you do things a certain way, but I don't agree with that. I'm happy that even with my style I've been able to get the results. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter what style you bowl."

But Kumble is too hardened a campaigner to believe that the critics will shut up and go home, just because he has become India's leading Test wicket-taker. When asked if he thought he had silenced his critics once and for all, he said, "I don't think so. Critics are always there to say things when somewhere along the line you haven't been doing well. I think that's something which I don't really worry about. If I thought too much of whatever people said then I wouldn't be here. My job is to go out there, play, give 100%. The rest will take care of itself. I'm not there to prove anything to anybody. At this point of time I think I have proved enough, and ultimately I need to go out there and prove to myself that I am still achieving the results that I am capable of."

While no-one can doubt Kumble's achievment, there have been some who believed, not so long ago, that he was past his best, and that he recently rediscovered the magic after coming back from a career-threatening shoulder injury. "I don't think I rediscovered anything. Most of it was always there. It's just that people started to recognise this when I began to do well once more. Right from day one you only try to improve. Every game you play you try to learn something. Over the years my experience has definitely helped in getting the results in Australia and after."

Coming back from injury was hard on the body, but fortunately Kumble is a man of strong will. This, and a burning desire to succeed, ensured that he had his chin up all the while. "Cricket at the international level has more to do with what's between the ears than ability. At this level everybody is talented. You have to be mentally strong and that has definitely helped me."

But that's not all that has helped Kumble. In his moment of glory, he remained true to character, and remembered to thank those that helped him along. It has become fashionable in recent times to dedicate every five-for and century to someone, usually prompted by a question in a press conference. But when the "do-you want-to-dedicate-this-to-anyone" question was popped to him, Kumble responded with one of his classic shrugs, smiled, and said, "No, I don't think so. All my team-mates have been a part of it. I would like to thank them. Without their help I wouldn't have got this far."

You can be sure that the team will have a quiet celebration to mark Anil Kumble's achievement, and they certainly have plenty to thank him for.