Beautiful delivery!!! Just short of length drawing the batsmen forward making him to reach out for the drive... Bowled himmmmm!!! Done the batsmen in with an absolute peach of a delivery... Well disguised googly did the trick this time… Well these comments and much more will not be heard anymore with the Legend Kumble calling it quits on Nov 2nd at the Feroz Shah Kotla. It was a shock for the entire Nation as the retirement came much earlier than expected. Relentless, perseverance, impeccable precision …….. All these qualities can be attributed to this humble cricketer who has been a fantastic ambassador for the game of Cricket. Cricket is known as the “Gentlemen’s Game” but, only a few contemporary players know that Cricket carries this tag also with it. Kumble is definitely a great role model for up coming cricketers. He has showed us the right way to go about the game on and off the field. In a career spanning over 18 years, this Gentle Giant has always proved to be a fierce competitor who would be always at you, relentless in his approach, very aggressive but, still without involving in sledging that has almost consumed the modern day cricket.
The Indian Cricket team has done exceedingly well in test matches for the past 8 to 10 years or so. Overseas victories which were nothing more than a dream slowly started to become tangible results. Series victories in England, West Indies, Pakistan and test match victories in Australia, South Africa all were witnessed in the last decade. All materialized purely due to some great contributions from the old horses like Kumble, Sachin, Sourav, Rahul and not to miss out the under-rated VVS. These guys have done yeoman service to Indian and World Cricket. Now that two will be missing from this list is really sad news for any Indian cricket fan. First Sourav and now Anil have decided to hang their boots. These are huge shoes to fill in and I’m supremely confidant that this void created by their departure will not be filled that easily.
“Everything has an end”. True! But the manner in which one gets to retire is worth mentioning. India has always been a myth and will continue to be one, not just for outsiders but also for many of us. This is a land of extremes. One even gets to see someone building a shelter for 8000 crores and at that same time you could also get to see significant proportion of the population living without shelter. The Media in particular can even be termed as The Prophecy .These guys have their own flair of getting things done just for the sake of commercializing their business. Constant pressure on the senior pros regarding their retirement has done no good to these great players who deserve an even better farewell than what we have and what we are about to give them. This era for me is the Golden era of Indian Cricket. This is my personal opinion and I give a damn for those who would want to contradict me. For many sports is all about results and for a few souls it’s all about professionalism, clinical approach, technique and charm. These “fab five” all have stamped their authority on the game with their unique style.
Sourav - the Prince of Kolkata, the God of Offside is by far the most aggressive captain India has witnessed. His entry to the Indian team in the One Day format is not so significant but the way he blasted his way into the pure format of the game is incredible. The sparkling hundred against England on his debut at the Mecca of cricket will always be remembered by many of us. The way he drove the ball on the offside , his square cuts split the gap with utmost precision . It wasn’t a flat deck on which he creamed the bowlers but, it was pretty hostile for batting when he came onto the field for the first time. Overcast conditions, movement on and off the pitch and to compound it England had Mullaly, Tudor and Cork in their ammunition. Sourav established his authority with many great knocks like the 124(if I’m not wrong) against Pakistan in Dhaka, his consecutive four man of the match awards at Toronto , 140 odd at Brisbane , Nat west finals and many more are worth cherishing. He was a natural timer of the cricket ball, his offside play was Godly and the way he transformed the Indian team from a submissive unit to an aggressive outfit was remarkable. He was brutal against spinners and the way he dances down the track and clears the boundary is a sight worth treasuring. He led the team with flair and confidence in the 2003 edition of the World Cup and that would go down in the record books of Indian Cricket. I certainly feel Sourav did not deserve the ill-treatment he got from the spectators, media, the selectors for sure when he was out of the team. He still proved his mettle by making a remarkable comeback and showed that class is permanent and form is temporary. He would always be remembered as someone who would never say die even at the dearth of motivation. A remarkable one day player and an elegant left hander who had his own panache of going about his work .Dada, we’ll miss you for sure.
Now this section is about someone whom I admire and respect so much. Well, it’s no big surprise it’s Anil Kumble. I developed a penchant for his bowling at a very young age. I still remember my school days when I was in fourth or fifth standard and we use to play tennis ball cricket at my friend Abinow’s place in Tatabad. It really is comical to revisit the past when as a kid I was over-ambitious and tried to bowl leg spin with a tennis ball. I admired his approach and his relentless nature. I could see a warrior in him, with a thick moustache and his run up is something that I always try to mock whenever I get a ball in my hand. I never bowled leg spin and never could because; it’s not an easy art. It takes invariable practice, dedication and hard work to master that art. Jumbo as he is rightly called has a real big heart and his career span and records speak for it. Many talk about his perfect 10 as his career best. By no means can I discount that feat but, for me the test match at Antigua where he got hit by a bouncer and broke his lower jaw. No one would have expected him to even be by the boundary ropes but, this great bowler got onto the field and even got the Caribbean prince,Lara out. Even now in his last test where he injured his finger and had eleven stitches on it and still came out and had 3 scalps. He even ran backwards and took a catch in spite of being injured while many in the team dropped sitters. Anil was an underrated cricketer by the media and he made no big fuss about anything. Even when new comers were complaining that they deserved to be the next captain, Anil never spoke a word. This speaks volumes about this man’s character. Respected all over the world’s Cricketing Fraternity he truly is a Legend. Here again, I would like to add that the press played an ugly part towards the fag end of his career. He was not given his due and at the same time he was constantly under pressure questioning his fitness, lack of form and retirement plans. He himself came out openly and stated that he found it difficult to handle two teams when India toured Down Under. Here, by two teams he meant the Aussies and the press team which was always on the lookout for topics apart from cricket. Everything said and done, he still managed to conduct his leadership with élan and a style of his own which has become synonymous with dedication. It really is a sad day for me and I will definitely miss my childhood hero for sure when the Indians adorn the whites for the next time. Hail Jumbo for his contributions to the world cricket.
