It has been months since I wrote on cricket. The interest to watch had never waned, but the desire to write certainly had. I watched with frustration as the Indian batting struggled in SriLanka . The feeling changed to irritation as the latest battle between the Fourth Estate and the Indian veterans reached ludicrous levels. Yet, none of these emotions were so strong as to be represented in words. Ganguly's retirement plans almost forced me to tap the keyboard again. But, there was still a mental block to be overcome. The block was finally overcome by the retirement of India's finest test match winner - Anil Kumble.
It was inevitable that Anil Kumble would retire sometime during the 2008-2009 season. Age was catching up and the shoulder was complaining and the veteran had to bow, as all must, to Father Time. But, as Kumble was given a farewell which rivalled Steve Waugh's, it was tempting to look back on the many triumphs and the few failures which made him such a special cricketer. But, the cliche still holds, facts and figures can never do proper justice to a sportsman.
To me Kumble's greatest achievement is that in all the tests India won during the time he was in the team, he was India's foremost player - not Tendulkar or Dravid. He relentlessly rolled on, bowling over after over and ensuring that the batsmen didn't ever complain that the bowlers hadn't done their job. He was India's finest bowler, her greatest test player.
Congrats Anil for being such a great player and for rekindling a dying flame in me -writing.
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8 comments:
John, not just you, Jumbo too will write. He's one articulate SoB. Can see him dng commentary with the best of them. Did I say, he'll make a good MoM announcer too.
Good one there - can see you'll be writing quite a bit in times to come!
Gaurav,
That was Sajith - not me, hence all those refrences to the dying flame.
MoM announcer? I'd hate to see Kumbles do all that. Commentary? Maybe later, though I can see he is cut out for it.. Initially though, I think Karnataka cricket needs him badly. Maybe a national selector in 2-3 years?
A thought - in a committee with Dada and Kumbles, who'd be chair?
Sajith, pls swap John's name in my comment for yours. rest remains the same.
John, chair be Kumble.
Nope, I think the chair ought to be Ravi Shastri. To me, he seems to be the most sensible of all the ex-cricketers.
sajith: take it you were with him on drop VVS/RD and 5 bowlers for Delhi.
good tiribute....
Read that Anil Kumble is planning to start an academy. I think he ought to address the Indian youngsters to teach them how to maximize their obvious talents.
I think Anils gonna do a Sanga and write for Cricinfo. That would be cool.
Maybe we should persuade him write his own blog.
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