One-day exclusions always hurt - Kumble

Anil Kumble, India's veteran legspinner, has admitted that each time he has been left out of the one-day squad, it has hurt him. However, after 16 years at the top level, he added that he is used to such decisions and believed that he has much to offer.

After a starring role in India's first win in the Caribbean for 33 years, Kumble was overlooked for the tri-series in Sri Lanka. It was a decision, he admitted, he was not surprised about. ''It hurt a lot three years ago [during the 2003 World Cup] but I have got used to it," he told Sportstar. "To tell you the truth, I don't think much about it. Why worry when such things can affect your performance? Initially I used to get worked up, but not now. Look at how some people want me to play one-day cricket now. Strange they said nothing when I was dropped from the one-day team,."

Kumble, 35, also felt that he has been taken for granted over the years. ''I don't think the demands are unreasonable, but often I think am taken for granted," he said. "I find it strange that when I take five wickets, it is considered no big deal because I am expected to do so. But if I finish with two or three wickets, it is said that I have had a poor game. That is not fair. Can a batsman score a century every time he walks to the middle?''

Asked whether he aspired to lead India, Kumble was frank: ''Who does not want to lead the country? But frankly, I have not worried at all about not being given the captaincy. It is something that is not within my control. 'I must have had some skills to have survived 16 years in international cricket. There was some possibility of leading sometime ago, but not now. It is too late."

Kumble also had words of confidence over the modern legspinner's role in these times of excessive television scrutiny. ''The exposure adds to the challenge because often the batsman, having studied you, knows what you are going to ball," he said. "Earlier, the seniors used to guide the newcomers on how to face the bowlers but now the video recordings come handy. It helps the bowlers too to study the batsmen.''

Motivation, he concluded, was the singular factor in his untiring contributions on the cricket field. ''To survive in today's cricket, you have to innovate or else you can lose your motivation," he said. "I try and come up with new grips, new angles, change my run-up, wrist positions, try and bowl differently. I have been working on my flipper even though I have not yet got a wicket with it. I have been trying to improve my googly. I keep telling myself that I have to keep trying. The [shoulder] injury has taught me a lot on preserving myself and contributing more to the team."