‘We knew Anilbhai was happy for he never celebrates this way’

Today, watching from the commentary box, after Kumble had punched the air with his bat after scoring his first Test century, just 68 days short of his 37th birthday, after 117 matches, Shastri simply said, “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer man.” After that perfect 10 with the ball in 1999, the first 100.

Over an hour later, an exhausted Kumble, who had faced 193 balls, hitting 16 boundaries and a six for his unbeaten 110 said, “It is a sense of fulfillment to have 10 wickets in a Test innings and now a Test hundred. As a child, every cricketer grows up thinking of this and I am happy to be fortunate enough to get here.”

Perennially cast in the shadow of Australian leg-spin ace Shane Warne for most of his 17-year-old career, Kumble had finally gone one up, so what if it was with the bat — Warne, who retired in January, had reached 99 once. “I was thinking about Warnie all the time, especially when I was in my nineties. He doesn’t have a Test hundred,” said Kumble, laughing.

But then, it was a team effort, Kumble stressed — all 11 Indians had reached double figures and after Kumble at No 8, it was Mahendra Dhoni at No 7, who had scored the second highest of 92.

“I am all the more happy about this century because India have gained a position of immense strength in this match. It will become truly memorable if we can see the next three days of the Test match with the same amount of confidence and win it here,” he said.

Ever the team-man, he did not forget to thank his No 11 partner, Sreesanth, who joined him when he was 24 runs short of the century. “Sreesanth told me when I was batting, ‘Don’t worry, I will stay here and not get out until you get your century.’ And he did just that. I also got good support from Zaheer, RP and of course the way Dhoni batted,” said Kumble.

But was the Indian dressing room worried as Kumble neared his hundred? Mahendra Dhoni has the answer: “Nobody was worried about Anilbhai, we were worried whether Sreesanth would keep his wicket or not. The entire dressing room was jubilant when Anilbhai got the boundary. We knew he was happy because usually we never see him celebrate the way he did today.”