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[caught and bowled]

Kumble announces retirement from one-dayers

Cricinfo staff

March 30, 2007

Anil Kumble, the Indian legspinner, has announced his retirement from one-day cricket but said that he will be available for Test matches.

"It's been a long, 17-year journey at the international level," Kumble told reporters during a press conference in Bangalore. "Hopefully I will finish my Test career on a brighter note."

Kumble took 337 wickets at 30.89 in 271 one-dayers . His last game was against Bermuda at the World Cup where he took 3 for 38 in India's 257-run win.

"One-day cricket is not a bowler's game, so I was always grateful when any wicket came my way," he said. Kumble, 36, made his one-day debut in 1990 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah.

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, acknowledged Kumble as one of India's greatest cricketers. "What Anil has performed for India over the last decade and a half has been legendary," Dravid said. Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain, said that Kumble had gone further than anybody could have imagined. "I never thought he had so much ability, but with time and determination he went beyond anybody's imagination."

More to follow

© Cricinfo

[suraj]

Hail Jumbo

[poondu]

The man who wouldn't say no

Anand Vasu

March 30, 2007

It is said that the memory span of the average Indian fan is one week, perhaps less. In Anil Kumble's case, that may not be such a bad thing. The last ball he bowled in one-day cricket was a quintessential Kumble rocket. Bermuda's Malachi Jones stood stupefied - and better batsmen have suffered similarly - as the ball pitched in line, hurried inexorably on, and crashed into pad, trapping him plumb in front.

That's the kind of ball Kumble should be remembered by.

Kumble, who announced his retirement from the one-day game today, has not been India's first choice spinner for a while now. But the last few years of his career should not obscure the fact that he was once a one-day bowler who was next to impossible to attack - captains routinely bowled him inside the first fifteen overs when a fast bowler struggled, and then at death - and even harder to counter defensively. If you let him push you back, it was only a matter of time before he nailed you.

The 6 for 12 in the final of the Hero Cup should burn as brightly in mind as the torches that 100,000 Kolkatans held aloft at the Eden Gardens when India won. It should slip no one's attention that he was the top wicket-taker in the 1996 World Cup, outperforming Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan in the subcontinent.

Just statistically, the evidence is staggering. Till October 20, 2000, he had played 208 ODIs, picking up 274 wickets at an average of 28.56, conceding just 4.20 runs per over. Then, playing against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, he suffered a rotator cuff injury to his right shoulder. Careers have been ended by lesser setbacks. There were suggestions then that he would never play international cricket again, and even if he did, that he would never be the bowler that he was. That's partially true.

Kumble spent 339 days in surgery, post-operative care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, mentoring bowlers from the sidelines with one hand in a sling, till he returned to action against South Africa at Johannesburg on October 5, 2001. From then to now, in the unequal second half of Kumble's career, he has played 63 ODIs taking only a wicket a game, at an average of 41.03.

It's not surprising then, that Kumble has been in and out of the eleven since that setback. Through further aggravation of the injury, dips in performance or withdrawing himself from series, Kumble has missed an astounding 107 of the 170 matches India has played since then. In that sense, it has been a career of two parts for Kumble. The second, with the unflattering ODI figures, is when he had all but lost his flipper. It was when the pace and zip had reduced just enough to take him from being lethal to merely threatening.

But Kumble the person, just like Kumble the bowler, is not the sort who gives up. He re-invented himself, bowling slower through the air, tossing the ball up more, finding a subtler googly to go with his telegraphed one - little finger pointing in the air like an antenna. He came round the wicket more. And all this worked magnificently in Test cricket. Happily, it coincided with a phase where India's batsmen were finally putting decent scores on the board overseas, which gave Kumble a chance to do his thing, and refute the charge that he was a home-track bully.

Michael Atherton wrote that there were times when he sensed that Curtly Ambrose, his nemesis, was going to bowl a yorker, and shaped to play accordingly, only to find that his off stump flattened anyway. With Kumble at his best, it was much the same. Like some natural disasters, you could forecast and predict all you liked but, when the strike came, there was nothing to do but run for cover.

When he took all ten Pakistani wickets in an innings in that famous Delhi Test in 1999, the civic authorities in Bangalore promised to name a street after him; they settled for a traffic junction, calling it Anil Kumble Circle. Now, as he calls time on his one-day career, his achievements in the blue shirt should not be belittled just because he has achieved so much more in whites.

Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

[flute202020]

It is really amazing how Kumble has only silent admirers and does not have any crazy fan following, afterall he won more matches for India than any other player in the last 17 years. It goes to show how victory is not the paramount important thing for Indian fans.

[poondu]

It is really amazing how Kumble has only silent admirers and does not have any crazy fan following, afterall he won more matches for India than any other player in the last 17 years.

Agree. Wright has also mentioned about this in his book . Kumble and Srinath did not get as much hype as SRT or SG even though they contributed as much.

[suraj]

It is really amazing how Kumble has only silent admirers and does not have any crazy fan following, afterall he won more matches for India than any other player in the last 17 years. It goes to show how victory is not the paramount important thing for Indian fans.

Yup apt comparison is the warm reception for SG upon his arrival back from WC- hamara Dada played in the WC, nothing else matters

or the SRT fanatics- he is breaking records so everything's fine

[ruchir]

  A bow to India's greatest match winner of all times.  Great, that he is leaving on his own accord, rather than being....

[Cover Point]

It is really amazing how Kumble has only silent admirers and does not have any crazy fan following, afterall he won more matches for India than any other player in the last 17 years. It goes to show how victory is not the paramount important thing for Indian fans.

Yup apt comparison is the warm reception for SG upon his arrival back from WC- hamara Dada played in the WC, nothing else matters

or the SRT fanatics- he is breaking records so everything's fine

Watched the Zee news yesterday about SG's return. they kept saying  how well SG played in the WC and thus he seemed to be happy. When people cant figure out what a good inning is (like 66 in 129 isnt) and they are reporting around the world, no wonder we have such ignorance around.

[fineleg]

It is really amazing how Kumble has only silent admirers and does not have any crazy fan following, afterall he won more matches for India than any other player in the last 17 years. It goes to show how victory is not the paramount important thing for Indian fans.

Yup apt comparison is the warm reception for SG upon his arrival back from WC- hamara Dada played in the WC, nothing else matters
or the SRT fanatics- he is breaking records so everything's fine

WTF is SG (or for that matter any of our buddas) getting a warm reception? just pour hot water on their head!

AK: Good luck for the Test career ahead.

[Cernunnos]

A bow to India's greatest match winner of all times. 

How many ODIs has he won us?

Great, that he is leaving on his own accord, rather than being....

[poondu]

Posted by Mukul Kesavan

I'm glad Anil Kumble has retired from one-day cricket. For two reasons. The lesser reason is that India's ODI team management appreciated neither his gifts nor the implacable will he brought to his work and didn't deserve him. Dravid preferred Harbhajan bowling mechanical off-spin like a wind-up toy to Kumble's commitment and intelligence and craft—as did Ganguly before him. But the more important reason to celebrate Kumble's one-day retirement is that it will help extend his Test career.
And how important is that? Very important indeed. If winning Test matches is the yardstick we use to measure the value of a player, Kumble is the most valuable player India has had since Kapil Dev: more important than the fine crop of batsmen of the last twenty years (Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman) and orders of magnitude more important than endorsement giants like Pathan, Dhoni and Yuvraj. You can reasonably argue that most Kumble-inspired victories have come at home but only if you're willing to apply that stricture to his batting contemporaries. Since 1971, the year we beat the West Indies in their backyard, Indian cricket has been sustained by three great players: Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble. That the rehearsal of this simple fact should seem startling or revisionist gives you some idea of how batsman-centric cricket is and how much we love worshipping little mountains of runs.

Luckily Javagal Srinath who, along with Kumble, pretty much made up India's bowling attack for years, has written a lovely tribute in the Hindustan Times which gives Kumble his due. Here's a quote from it, but do read the whole thing:

"What made him a great bowler was there was no parallel (in the way he bowls) in Indian cricket, perhaps Chandra being the closest. The rest are more traditional bowlers. But his uniqueness was as much an insecurity (to him) as a strength. What worried him early on was that people would think him predictable, say that he would be read very well by the opposition. Whenever he was compared to Warne and found wanting, it really worked him up. It was only around the late 90s that he came to terms with it, realised that his uniqueness was his strength, figured what he could work on and what he could not."

At least Bangalore appreciates him. Which other player can claim to have a roundabout in the middle of a great metropolis named after him at age thirty! Anil Kumble Circle (formerly Oriental Circle) sits at the junction of St. Mark's Road and MG Road in the heart of Bangalore and bears mute witness to the glory of a native son.

[poondu]

Kumble didn’t get a fair deal
Javagal Srinath
March 31, 2007
 
It seems like I have known Anil forever. We come from the same state, from similar backgrounds and have more or less grown up together. We played our cricket together, were part of the same team in the under-19s and under-23s, right through to international cricket.

We have shared rooms and we have shared secrets, have celebrated the good times and consoled each other in times of disappointment.

We have also had some of our moments of enlightenment together. I remember once, in our early days, as a pair of excited newcomers to international cricket (in the times when players still shared rooms), we used to spend endless hours discussing the game and the people who played it.

We both had tremendous expectations from our seniors - we thought they would teach us, hear us out and generally be supportive. It did not work that way in an intensely competitive world, and we were both often terribly disappointed.

So we sat down and analysed our attitudes. We realised it was important to keep our expectations rational. We did so, trying thereafter to manage on our own.

Anil was instrumental in shaping my career at the international level at its most nascent stage. I learnt a lot from him, essentially that however great the odds, one should never give up. I learnt that no matter the state of the wicket, the level of the match, or the state of the game, one should never mentally surrender. The intensity with which he played rubbed off on everyone who came into contact with him.

I think the greatest lesson anyone can take from Anil's story is to never quit trying. Anybody who has ever had a lean patch and wants to bounce back should look at him. He has done it so many times. No one has more fighting spirit than Anil Kumble.

Across the years, I think Kumble's greatest disappointment has been the way he was treated despite being the country's highest wicket-taker. Time and again, he has not been given due credit for his performances; he has faced immense criticism despite his best efforts, and has had to come back and prove himself again  and again.

It has been unfair to him and is a shameful reflection on those who judged him. I think one big factor was that Anil Kumble never had a godfather. He is completely self made, unique in many ways.

What made him a great bowler was there was no parallel (in the way he bowls) in Indian cricket, perhaps Chandra being the closest. The rest are more  traditional bowlers. But his uniqueness was as much an insecurity (to him) as a strength. What worried him early on was that people would think him predictable, say that he would be read very well by the opposition. Whenever he was compared to Warne and found wanting, it really worked him up. It was only around the late 90s that he came to terms with it, realised that his uniqueness was his strength, figured what he could work on and what he could not.

The Anil Kumble you see in public, is also the Anil Kumble you see in private. He is a quiet, reserved, deeply intense man who doesn't open up with people he doesn't know, but is extremely sociable with those he does. He loves to talk, to sing.

We have a wonderful relationship. It is a relationship I cherish, despite the fact that we had our fair share of differences and arguments. Through it all, our friendship has endured. One thing that we understood early in our cricketing life is that you have to find your own footing without depending on someone; the people you know doesn't matter, performances do.

As the curtain comes down on one aspect of a fantastic career, I suggest we enjoy watching however much we can see of Anil Kumble. History is a harsh judge but I am willing to bet that in the years to come, he could well be deemed incomparable.

(Javagal Srinath is a former India cricketer)

http://www.hindustantimes.in/htcricket/74_1961369.htm

[Blwe_torch]

RD should have made it convenient to attend Kumble's fare-well function. His absence is disappointing. He should not give a damn to whatever the media asks him.

[LosingNow]

We both had tremendous expectations from our seniors - we thought they would teach us, hear us out and generally be supportive. It did not work that way in an intensely competitive world, and we were both often terribly disappointed

--
This is a really sad comment on Indian cricket. Bunch of individuals <> Team ... and it appears like this has been a problem for ages!

[Blwe_torch]

We both had tremendous expectations from our seniors - we thought they would teach us, hear us out and generally be supportive. It did not work that way in an intensely competitive world, and we were both often terribly disappointed

--
This is a really sad comment on Indian cricket. Bunch of individuals <> Team ... and it appears like this has been a problem for ages!

Basically a captaincy issue. We need a strong captain, at this point. I am not very sure that he can be SG, though.

[ramshorns]

We both had tremendous expectations from our seniors - we thought they would teach us, hear us out and generally be supportive. It did not work that way in an intensely competitive world, and we were both often terribly disappointed

--
This is a really sad comment on Indian cricket. Bunch of individuals <> Team ... and it appears like this has been a problem for ages!

Basically a captaincy issue. We need a strong captain, at this point. I am not very sure that he can be SG, though.

Actually if you read carefully it touches entire career that includes days played under Ganguly. It was not based on this WC..

On another topic I think SG should bid ODI's goodbye after the ndian team WC debacle for his own good.
 

[Blwe_torch]

We both had tremendous expectations from our seniors - we thought they would teach us, hear us out and generally be supportive. It did not work that way in an intensely competitive world, and we were both often terribly disappointed

--
This is a really sad comment on Indian cricket. Bunch of individuals <> Team ... and it appears like this has been a problem for ages!

Basically a captaincy issue. We need a strong captain, at this point. I am not very sure that he can be SG, though.

Actually if you read carefully it touches entire career that includes days played under Ganguly. It was not based on this WC..

On another topic I think SG should bid ODI's goodbye after the ndian team WC debacle for his own good.
 

I am not that sanguine on this issue. On the first point, team unity issues were not this bad during Ganguly's captaincy. He was famous as the players' captain. Unfortunately, Dravid has carved himself as a coach's captain. Unfortunate because, the coach himself failed to garner the respect of the players.

[Libran]

End of an Era in ODIs....One could always throw the ball to him and expect him to do something different...atleast in the year or two before he was thought to be a misfit in ODIs

What will however linger is his crib that he could not get to play most matches of WC'03...and moreso the final...and as fate and fact would have it, neither did his team mate, state mate and good friend think that he was good enough to play one of the crunch games of WC'07...

Such is life....get on with it...and hope to see some match winning bowling in Test matches

[dextrous]

Look at teh baseball players -- Barry Bond's head AND feet have grown in the last few years!

If we just gave Sachin, Dravid, and Saurav some steroid, we'd be all set.