New Delhi, November 2
Anil Kumble retired from Test cricket to signal the end of an era of spin bowling, spanning over 18 years. He took the momentous decision during the fifth day’s play of the third cricket Test
between India and Australia here today.
Kumble made a formal announcement of his decision after the tea break. He quit Test and all forms of international and first class cricket, though he would honour the contractual obligations with his franchise in the Indian Premier League. He chose his favourite Ferozeshah Kotla ground to bring the curtain down on a glorious career.
“Kotla is special”, he said softly. Kumble brought his two young kids and wife to the ground during the prize distribution ceremony for them to be witness to an epochal moment. When a television channel first flashed the news that Kumble would retire from Test cricket today, there was no confirmation. But when the Indian team came out to field for the second time, after declaring their second innings, the players of both the teams lined up to give him a standing ovation.
The genial skipper walked into field, with his head erect, and a gentle smile playing on his lips, to lead the teams. A motley group of media people, security personnel and others crowded around him, to create a virtual ruckus, hustling and pushing him, as the captain made his way towards the pitch, for his last bow.
After bowling four overs without change from the pavilion end, conceding 14 runs, Kumble put on his favourite brown cap, with the BCCI emblem and No 192 etched on it, to say adieu to a game he had loved so passionately. “I cherish this cap. I know how hard it was to get it”. He was chaired by Zaheer Khan, Dravid and others to give a moving, affectionate farewell to a player who was a gentleman off the field, but a smiling assassin on it. He was part of almost all the major Test wins for India since
he made his debut under Mohammedan Azharuddin, in India and abroad.
He would be remembered for giving his cent per cent, for putting the team before self. “It was a very tough decision. I think my body gave me this decision, and this injury (on the little finger of his left hand, which needed 11 stitches). The injury on the finger is pretty nasty as I got a deep cut, with flesh hanging out, though I don’t know how I got the cut”.
He said he had decided to call it a day yesterday itself. “As I wanted to be 100 per cent fit. I didn’t want to let down the team. I would have liked to finish the series here (on a winning note). We had a great opportunity to finish the match after putting on 600 odd runs. It has been a great journey, an incredible journey, but it’s time to move on and enjoy time with my family. I don’t regret my decision”, he said.
Kumble said when he made his Test debut, his critics had panned that he would not last even two Tests. “I don’t take criticism (seriously). There are different phases when you play for such a long time. I started thinking of quitting when my fitness level started affecting my bowling.” Kumble proved his critics wrong to play 132 Tests, and scalp 620 wickets.
When askes if he ever felt that the captaincy came to him a few years too late he said, “I am lucky that I got the captaincy at all.” Kumble’s decision to quit Test cricket, with one more match to go against Australia, starting at Nagpur on November 6, came as a surprise to all, though he said he had informed his family, his team-mates and chairman of the senior selection committee K. Srikkanth, about his decision.
