100 Not Out

The Karnataka team, which included Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad and this writer, readily accepted 8212; with one exception. Kumble was a stickler for fair play, we realised that day. At first he asked us not to take the bet, next he insisted that we reveal who we were and, when nothing worked on us, he said he8217;d stand as umpire.

That was fine. What he did next was even worse and we have not forgiven him as yet.

Having allowed our hosts to bat first, we ignored the fact that Kumble didn8217;t hand us any favourable decisions 8212; that8217;s why I fail to understand how he can appeal so much off his own bowling 8212; and got ready to have a bit of fun with the bat.

That8217;s when Mr Kumble decided to tell the opposition who we really were. Next minute, the stumps, the sandals and the opposition vanished and we were left with no batting, which is the worst thing that can happen to you in gully or beach cricket.

Today the same man is not averse, in fact he revels in it, to deceiving the opposing batsmen into playing for non-existent turn, the wrong turn and what not. How is that fair?

On a more serious note, a lot of people term Ravi Shastri8217;s one-Test captaincy as one of Indian cricket8217;s biggest losses; there are others, though, who8217;d rate Kumble8217;s lone ODI as Indian skipper as a bigger opportunity missed. For Kumble may be limited in terms of turn on the field but off it he8217;s turned his biggest handicap into his biggest advantage. Why he wasn8217;t given a proper crack at the Indian captaincy is a question that will need a lot of answering.

Secondly, any way you look at it, Kumble has been India8217;s number one match-winner to date. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and now Virendra Sehwag, all batsmen, may have laughed all the way to their respective banks and here8217;s wishing them more such laughter but they will be the first to acknowledge the part Kumble has played in their success.

Yes, it8217;s been one heck of a journey, one that can be broken up into many parts, one that has taken him around the world 8212; and one that doesn8217;t yet have an ending in sight.

FORGET predicting the end of the line, even the start to his career had many doubters, including friends, colleagues and former team-mates. Last week some of his friends 8212; former junior Karnataka cricketers 8212; gathered at a party in Bangalore.

The discussion centred around Kumble, who8217;d played alongside this group for many years, both as teammate and opponent, at the college and club levels. The common comment was: 8216;8216;Whoever thought he8217;d play this long and so successfully?8217;8217;

Because when he started out most of his associates in Bangalore felt that a bowler of his ilk wouldn8217;t last long at the highest level. 8216;8216;Oh, he8217;ll be sorted out8217;8217;, they said. 8216;8216;After all, how long will it take batsmen to realise that all they have to do is play him as a medium pacer?8217;8217;

Similarly, a former India spinner now doing commentary referred to Kumble8217;s spell on day two of the Delhi Test, when he destroyed Sri Lanka8217;s middle order, as 8216;8216;magical8217;8217;.

The comment showed, once again, that Kumble8217;s greatest strength has been his ability to let the ball do all the talking. Let me connect this up for you. In 2003, the Indians were playing Australia in a tri-series final at Kolkata. The Indian team to tour Australia later that month was to be picked soon after the final and each of the television commentators were asked by their producer to put out their preferred team. All the commentators, bar the ex-spinner, picked Kumble in the team. Kumble, the dissenter said, was finished and needed to make way for younger men.

Better sense prevailed, among the selectors at that time and now with the ex-spinner.

The ability to focus on the challenge in hand and the tremendous self-discipline that has always been a part of his life have also served to help the man reach the current heights. He was devastated when, early in his career he missed out on the tour to Australia in 1992 and the World Cup that followed; he was disappointed, again, when he was dropped several times in the course of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. But each time he kept his counsel, decent and dignified.

ONE thing with Kumble, though, he has a long memory it8217;s not the reason why Navjot Sidhu nicknamed him 8216;Jumbo8217; but it8217;s a quality he shares with elephants!. This writer experienced that memory first-hand. One fine day in 1996, when India were playing South Africa in a Test at Kanpur, Kumble called me over to his room for dinner. Apparently he had promised me sometime before his first-class debut that he would take me out for dinner and, not having done it yet, he chose to do it that evening.

So there I was in his room, picking up the beer from the mini-bar and ordering the best of kebabs even as his famous sense of discipline meant that all he ordered for himself was a plate of curd rice.

That night also set up a tradition among us. On every subsequent tour one evening was kept aside for me.

But if I thought it was a great way to get some inside stuff on the Indian team, I was very, very wrong. Not one bit of information came my way, though we talked some great cricket. Actually I didn8217;t expect this extremely intense, hard-working cricketer to make life easier for me. I learnt the hard way that dinner was the only thing on him and if we were not in his room there would be no buying drinks either.

That8217;s something that hasn8217;t changed with time. The other day some of his friends advised him to set up a bar in his beautiful new home. He readily agreed, on one condition: We8217;d have to get the drinks. 8216;8216;I have no idea of what to get or where to get them8217;8217;, or words to that effect!

It is, of course, an altogether different scenario on the cricket field. It isn8217;t Kumble but the world8217;s batsmen who need help. He still doesn8217;t turn the leg-spinner too much and his wrong 8217;un is used more and more as the right one but the sum of it all is the same. Nearly 500 Test wickets and 100 Tests.

Hats off to you, Anil.

The writer is a former sports correspondent