The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Keeping his date with epoch-making feats

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Keeping his date with epoch-making feats

By S. Dinakar

Anil Kumble. - Photo: V.V. Krishnan.

CHENNAI, OCT. 13. The practice session over, the players trooped into the team bus, which headed back to the hotel. The Chidambaram Stadium ground, throbbing with pre-Test fever, appeared to have lost its soul too, at least until the morrow, when the cricketers would return.

But look at the turf more carefully and the invisible footmarks of those great men of the past, of a Richards or a Gavaskar, a Steve Waugh or a Kapil Dev, turn visible, reflecting tales of triumphs and setbacks.

And amidst the sound of silence, you can listen to their shouts of laughter or cries of anguish too — a cricketing arena's soul is eternal.

Anil Kumble, the genial leg-spinner, is conscious of the Chidambaram Stadium ground's glorious history, and remembers his moments of sunshine at one of Test cricket's great venues.

"I have enjoyed playing here, both in Test cricket and the domestic competitions. I bowled well here in 1993 when we beat England, I led Karnataka to a Ranji Trophy victory here in the 1995 season, then we defeated Australia here in 1997-98. I missed the decider in 2001 against Australia because of a shoulder injury, but it was wonderful to see India win that memorable series here," he told The Hindu on Wednesday.

`We can bounce back'

Fast forwarding to the Thursday's second TVS Cup Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he believes India can turn things around. "If we can bat to our potential, play to our potential, we can bounce back."

Here the leggie flips his mind back to that engrossing series in Australia last season, where he sizzled with 24 wickets in only three Tests, and India came within a whisker of pulling off its first series victory in Australia.

"It was the big scores in Australia, whether in the first or second innings, that helped us. There are all attacking batsmen. If you need to put pressure on these guys, you got to put runs on the board."

Greatest spinner

Then Kumble turns his attention on the leg-spinner's special club, of which he and Shane Warne are a prominent part. "He is the greatest spinner I have seen. A nice guy too, and we really get along well. He congratulated me after my 400th Test wicket in Bangalore. I would do that too, as and when he goes past the world record of 532."

He recalls a recent phone call from the legendary Kapil Dev. "Kapil Paaji called me up and said you should not stop at 434 — his Indian record — but become the first bowler from the country to reach 500 wickets."

Kumble then adds, "That would be nice. That's a possibility."

Talk to Kumble about him being the biggest match-winner for India in Tests, and his response is: "It's not one person's contribution. If my performances have helped the team, then nothing like it."

Probe him about his rather low key celebration after removing Australia's Simon Katich — his 400th Test victim — in Bangalore, and his answer is: "That's the way I react to success. Probably I am old-fashioned. You don't change with success. Be the same person. You have a job to do and you do that."

Self-effacing he certainly is, but aggression bristles in his bowling. "If you do not feel intense about the game, you must say that's it," he says even as he keeps his date with epoch-making feats.

Kumble's footsteps too will leave their imprint on the Chidambaram Stadium.

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