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Anil Kumble
The "quiet" Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of the tour of England came as a "huge surprise" to legendary spinner and former India captain Anil Kumble, who believes the two senior batters deserved an on-field farewell. Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on Monday, bringing the curtains down on an illustrious red-ball career in which he played 123 matches, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries. This was after Rohit decided to step away from the longest format last Thursday. "It is a huge surprise. Two outstanding, great players retiring on the back of few days. I didn't see it coming. It has certainly caught me off guard. I thought he has a few more years left in him, especially at the Test level," Kumble said on Kohli on 'ESPNCricinfo'. "He's playing only the ODI format now. No player leaves with any regret and I am sure he would have thought through this and ultimately it is the player's call." Kumble, who ended as
The 1983 World Cup winner and ex-chairman of selectors, Sandeep Patil feels John Wright's approach of giving a free-hand to players led to his successful coaching stint with India, something his more authoritarian successors Greg Chappell and Anil Kumble failed to emulate. In his autobiography -- Beyond Boundaries -- launched here on Wednesday, Patil gave deep insights about the reason behind Wright's success as India coach vis a vis Chappell and Kumble. "Since 2000, India have had an array of international coaches and support staff. This has paid rich dividends, because India's overseas record has improved steadily. It all started with John Wright becoming India's first foreign coach. "I think John was the ideal coach for India. He was soft spoken, polite, well-mannered, always kept to himself, and was happy to be in Sourav Ganguly's shadow. "In addition to all that, he kept a distance from the Press. He managed that so well, that he was hardly in the news unlike what happened in
Former Indian captain Anil Kumble is marvelled at Virat Kohli's manic consistency and believes that his on-field aggression always adds to required intensity in any T20 team that he plays for. Kumble marked it as the biggest legacy of Kohli, who is the only player in history of IPL to play 16 seasons for only franchise -- Royal Challengers Bangalore. "I would say consistency. I saw him in RCB when I was a part of RCB, that's where he started his T20 career, after being a U-19 World Cup winner. From there, the transformation in his fitness, the way he wanted to play his cricket, and the performances he put in white-ball cricket," Kumbke told Star Sports. "In Test cricket, we know his greatness. In T20s for India, his consistency over a period of time has been immense. The kind of aggression and attitude he brings on to the field help the team gain intensity," said Kumble. The World Cup winning England captain Eoin Morgan rated Kohli as one of the finest cricketers of the modern era.
R Ashwin is a content man after becoming only the second Indian to take 500 Test wickets and has no interest in chasing Anil Kumble's national record of 619 scalps. Ashwin dismissed England opener Zak Crawley in the final session on day two and became only the ninth bowler to scale 'Mount 500' in Test history. The 37-year-old Ashwin said he has no particular aim of pushing for more and try and get to Kumble's record. The very simple answer is no' 120 wickets away. Every day is what I want to live for, and, I'm 37 years old. I don't know what's in store next, Ashwin told the media here after stumps on the second day. What's in store for the next two months? You play this series and then what lies ahead, you really don't know. I don't want to really jump the gun. I've kept it this way for the last 4-5 years and it's been very simple and it's worked for me. Why change anything that's working for you? Ashwin added. Recalling his journey on one of the most memorable days of his career
Former India captain Anil Kumble feels that the embattled Shubman Gill has been given the kind of "cushion" that veteran Cheteshwar Pujara never got and the young batter needs to make it count in the second Test against England or risk being under tremendous pressure. The 24-year-old Gill has not scored a half century in his last 11 Test innings. He scored a 128 in India's first innings against visiting Australian in Ahmedabad in March last year, but after that his highest score has been 36. He made 23 and 0 in the two innings of the first Test against England here, which India lost by 28 runs on Sunday. "He (Gill) has been given the cushion perhaps even a Cheteshwar Pujara didn't get, although he (Pujara) has played over a 100 Tests," Kumble said on 'JioCinema'. "I keep coming back to him (Pujara) mainly because that was his place (No 3) not too long ago. Pujara played in that World Test Championship final and post that, it's been Shubman Gill, who's been moving from the opener's
The legendary Anil Kumble has termed England's bowling attack for the opening Test against India, starting in Hyderabad on Thursday as "highly inexperienced", while predicting a comfortable 4-1 win for the hosts in the five-match series. England announced a three-pronged spin attack on the eve of the Hyderabad Test with uncapped spinner Tom Hartley and one-Test old Rehan Ahmed teaming up with Jack Leach, with Mark Wood being the lone fast bowler. With Ben Stokes ruling himself out from sharing bowling workload throughout the five-Test series, England skipper may face some troubles finding the right mix but Kumble said it will be interesting to see how the visitors approach the rubber. "It will all depend on how Jack Leach leads the spin attack. Three spinners, of course the English management obviously have had a look at the pitch and they believe that it's going to take turn," Kumble replied to a PTI query during an interaction organised by Jio Cinema. "In that sense, just with on
India are set to play Pakistan in the Asia Cup and the World Cup in the coming two months, and legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble said on Tuesday that the key will be to take it as just another game of cricket. The former India captain has an outstanding record against Pakistan in both Tests and ODIs, having taken 81 wickets from 15 Tests, including snaring all 10 wickets in an innings (10/74) in 1999 at New Delhi. In 34 ODIs against Pakistan, Kumble has grabbed 54 wickets. "In our times, the word was 'lose even to Kenya but not to Pakistan'. There was pressure and expectation on the players. "That's how the matches between India and Pakistan are being played and the key is to treat it as just another match," Kumble said here while speaking during the launch of Pitchside, the memoir written by veteran cricket administrator Amrit Mathur. The function was also attended by former India batter and the current NCA chief VVS Laxman and former India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani. The 10-wick