Time for India’s unsung hero to hog limelight

With the selectors’ dilemma over finding a replacement for incumbent Dravid intensifying after Tendulkar’s stand, they knocked on the door of the man who several times in his career has bailed out India in a crisis.

The perpetual unsung hero — despite winning 9 man of the match and 5 man of the series awards — he would always be lost in the background as the day’s captain would be seen holding the silverware. Maybe, it will be in the role of a captain that Kumble’s significant role in the collective triumph of the team will be finally recognised. After 17 years of international cricket and 566 Test wickets, it will be tough to forget Kumble individual contribution.

And since one of the national selectors happens to be the former Test left-arm spinner Venkatpathy Raju, who has played second lead to Kumble for several years, this time around the Bangalore player’s worthiness was missed. Even the chairman Dilip Vengsarkar was aware about the doggedness of Kumble. On the 1990 tour of England, Kumble made his debut while Vengsarkar was still the mainstay batsman in the Indian batting order. And that’s the reason when it came to lead a Test team, where unlike the one-dayers the Big Three still are a force to reckon with, it was apt that the 118-Test old Kumble was preferred over the odds-on favourite 20 Test old Dhoni.

Despite several bitter tales of intrigue emerging from the Team India camp over the years, Kumble has remained mostly unperturbed and unquestionably unblemished. He has been part of several huddles but has preferred that his strong and silent voice has never been overbearing. Finally at Delhi in two weeks’ time, Kumble will be one giving orders and there were several seniors in the huddle who will know that it is time to pay back to the man who has been Man Friday.

And considering the venue Ferozeshah Kotla is and the opposition being Pakistan, it seems like a Perfect Ten scenario for Kumble.