He was pleased that his family, wife Chetena and two daughters, was there to witness his first Test victory as a captain as the Ferozeshah Kotla remained faithful to both Anil Kumble and India.“I am glad that my family was here to cheer me on and that I did not have to call and tell them that we had won the match,” said Kumble, after he had led India to victory in the first Test against Pakistan today.The result was only befitting, especially after the way he led the team, the way he took crucial decisions and the way he handled sensitive issues.From choosing Sourav Ganguly over strike bowler Munaf Patel, to juggling his bowlers and setting an aggressive field — it seems that after a long time, the term ‘captain courageous’ can again be associated with the India skipper. And he seemed to have a clear vision of what was required, never getting flustered when the situation turned tough.The team seemed happy with his decisions, and more with his performance — something that his counterpart lacked. Ever since he had landed in India, Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik had been under fire for uninspiring captaincy.Kumble bowled long crucial spells, taking four wickets in the first innings and also providing crucial breakthroughs in the second. Some may criticise his decision of bowling Munaf and Harbhajan Singh less, but Kumble simply brushed them aside. “I can put my hand up and say that as a spin bowler I understand the importance of bowling spells. He (Harbhajan) bowled exceptionally well. The wickets he took were crucial for the success of the team. It was not easy to bowl on this pitch and you have to rotate the bowlers. It was the nature of the pitch which dictated my decisions.”On taking the new ball in the middle of an over on the fourth day, Kumble said: “I know there is a lot of talk on that. I wanted Munaf (Patel) to change ends and wanted to bowl that over but thought, why not try Sourav. After a couple of balls from him, I decided to take the new ball. And he got two wickets. Then, when they were nine down, it was for me to finish it off.”It may be too early to say what kind of a captain Kumble would turn out to be, but his debut definitely belied expectations. And are celebrations on the cards?“Yeah,” he said. “We celebrated with a 15-minute training session with Greg King.” Team India are definitely staying in-focus.
