Hat-trick next goal: Kumble

“We will win the coming World Cup in the same fashion as beating Pakistan in the recent second Test,” the soft-spoken leg-spinner declared.

Kumble, who arrived nearly six hours behind schedule from Delhi, was taken in an open jeep in a procession from the airport to the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was a veritable red carpet welcome as enthusiastic people stopped the convoy at different spots and garlanded the star.

As people burst crackers and danced at the airport and at several places,

Kumble thanked his supporters andpromised to keep up his good work.

“It’s the media and the people around me who have made me feel this performance an out-of-the world experience,” Kumble said but added it would not change him in anyway.

Kumble agreed that following his performance, expectations from him have gone up, and expressed confidence of living up to them. Kumble’s overjoyed parents — Krishnaswami and Saroja — and top KSCA officials and others affectionately received him.

But the family said they missed Anil’s brother Dinesh, who is presently abroad.

YET ANOTHER AWARD: Kumble was today awarded Rs 1.50 lakh by the KK Birla Foundation. The foundation gives two awards to sportspersons annually. The award to Kumble is in addition to the yearly awards, a Foundation release said.

RATINGS UP: Kumble’s ten-wicket haul has catapulted him over 17 international cricketers in the CEAT cricket ratings. He is second with 74 points, only nine points away from leader Jacques Kallis of South Africa.

Adjudicators SunilGavaskar, Ian Chappell and Clive Lloyd acknowledged the Karnataka player’s effort with a booty of 31 points — a record itself in the short history of ratings — yesterday. Kumble, who was at 19th spot and nowhere in the merit list of top ten with 39 points has jumped to second place, with a strong possibility of winning the International Cricketer of the Year award worth Rs 5 lakh. He shares the second spot with Sachin Tendulkar. Sunil Gavaskar termed the collection of 31 points with ten wickets as equivalent to scoring 350 runs in an innings.