Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust. Anil Radhakrishnan Kumble has announced that he will be hanging up his boots at least from one day cricket. Good for him. As Mukul Kesavan said in his blog, the Indian one day team actually didn’t deserve him. They didn’t deserve that hard working middle class boy from Bangalore. The ugly duckling that turned into a swan with an amazing attitude and even more incredible work ethic. I love the guy. In the mid 90’s when I was growing up in Bangalore, one of my very good friends was Kumble’s neighbor. His house was located by the Yediyur lake in Jayanagar. It was a typical old Bangalore styled house with red oxide floors and all. By that time, he had already been doing well and had moved out on his own to Wadia road where I think he still lives with his wife and kids. Anyways, coming back to his parent’s house, he was a product of that house. He belonged to a typical middle class family with certain uniqueness to him. He was humble and strong. He never took anything for granted and remembered where he came from. All through out his career, he never got anything handed to him on a platter. He had to fight for what ever he achieved and you could see that he wanted to be there. Every time he took the field to bowl, I remember the look on his face. Those steely eyes, that concentration on the wicket and most importantly a constant thinking mind. He was always trying different things. His consistency amazed me time and again. Him and McGrath were known for their consistency. Every bowl he bowled, you had to play it no matter what. If you were not confident about what foot you want to be on, you were bound to be out. It was tough to read the pitch of the ball as it would hurry to you at a pace which made it difficult to decide where you should and what shot you should be playing. I think Srinath once said that he was a spinner in a fast bowler’s body. He had the aggression and commitment to the wicket. I remember how at one point of time we had atleast 6 players from Karnataka in the one day team. Kumble, Srinath, Prasad, Dravid, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson. I don’t think Dravid was around at that time.
Let me get back to now. Kumble again is one of my last connections to the game of cricket. One of the guys I can relate to as my own. A few remain and the chord will then be finally cut. I hope players learn to play cricket and carry themselves like this man. Never said a wrong word and never did the wrong thing. Always enjoyed what he did and was a shining example. I wish you well and I hope you come back a commentator as I know that your language is impeccable and your brains are sharp. You will provide valuable insight to the game with your sophistication and thought process. Guys like Kumble end up doing well no matter what they do. They are not enormously talented but have the basic drive to achieve and to compete. He will be back in some other avatar in which he shall excel. It’s a given.