Jumbo Take's Off

Anil Kumble announced his retirement from test cricket today. Over a career spanning 18 years and multiple generations of cricketers, Kumble has been India's greatest match winner. 18 years, 132 test matches, 40,850 deliveries and 619 wickets sums his efforts.

Always a gentleman, always giving 100%, a never-say-die warrior, a bowler with immense penetration with an incredible ability to fox the very best.

Over the years, the big man jumping in to his bowling stride and releasing the ball with a fire in his eyes and a determinedly set chin has been so much part of Indian cricket that now it seems as if an era is coming to a quick end. I am not even 30 years old, but somehow with the retirement of Kumble and Sourav's retirement coming up in next test in Nagpur, I feel much more older. I feel as if I am a grand dad who is going to miss all the glory days gone by and will always find fault with the 'new' in Indian cricket. In brief, I think I will be nostalgic. Perhaps the vacuum in my heart just reflects the vacuum in Indian cricket as a result of these greats going off into the dusk of their careers, one by one.

As a personal tribute to this gentle and devastating giants retirement I will try and put words which for me is Kumble: determined, clever, foxy, 100% cricketer, gentleman, delivers always.

Anil Kumble, Indian cricket, millions of Indian fans and world over will miss you. We will miss the assurance your name used to give us, that we have a chance at hitting at the core of the opposition, that we are sure to challenge the adversary, that no one can score against India in free domination, that we have Anil Kumble coming on: BEHOLD THE JUMBO!

A tribute to Anil Kumble: Jumbo

Now is the Time

As the Bengalooru curtain raiser ended, two things were proved to be correct - Aussies are no more the world beaters they were & India are not yet the world beaters they hope to be. As this scale is maintained we will witness more and more thrilling contests (hopefully). Ultimately a status quo can not be maintained indefinitely; one side or the other has to stake their claim for supremacy. It will be mighty interesting to see who that will be.

In the same vein of thought, it can be said that the current selection committee of BCCI has on it a job of immense proportions; one of a magnitude of which was never thrust up on it before. Hopefully Kris Srikanth and his men will prove up to the task. No, I am not merely referring to the retirement plans for Fab-4 and the Lone Raider (Anil Kumble). The task before the new selection committee is much more complex and multi faceted. BCCI is now for some years has been rolling in money that is also nothing new, albeit the scale has increased significantly. The major task is to take advantage of a vacuum that is about to form at the top of the international cricketing community - "Who fills Aussie shoes?" is the BIG question. India have a very realistic chance of being that country. And if India does manage to achieve even half of that - to become a formidable and feared foe in test arena, then this proud cricketing nation whose claim to fame was mostly borne by few shoulders can rejoice in its "team" supremacy.

May the seniors in their retirement plans and the juniors in their commitment-hard work and the selection committee in their acts of balance and the BCCI in its quest for coffers and the public in their continuing support, come together and strive to achieve that extra 100 yards (or half) to reach the pinnacle; let no IPL blind us into self congratulations. Amen!

Sourav : The Brave

Ganguly is correct, he has been humiliated time and again. He is paying the price of being a straight talker in a nation whose cricket is always about false-ego's and behind the back talks. Yes Sourav has ego but its up to ur face and he has quality (even now) to back it up. Sourav was never one to hide in a closet or weep silently. It might be a wrong time to voice his views but again will the world even care this much if he vents his anger after he has retired? What the "we-know-best's" of Indian cricket have done is to use Sourav when they needed him (bowing to his straight talk) and then go for his head at the first oppurtunity available. Every great player goes through bad patches. If you just want to talk about current form, I would say Sourav is just one series bad. I don't understand this concept of age in test cricket. I know that Sourav is a sloppy fielder, but his presence in the batting line up fills one with bravery. He is the BRAVE ONE, a rarity in Indian cricket.