Open letter to Anil Kumble – the Head Coach of Team India

To Anil Kumble – Head Coach of Team India,

Before I start diving deep into the memory lanes in my admiration of your contribution to the game of cricket in India, it would only be fair to congratulate you first on your appointment as the new head coach of Team India. Congratulations Anil Kumble Sir for being rightly appointed as the coach of the most illustrious team on the planet.

I use the word ‘rightly’ since your selection justifies the spirit that Indian team needs desperately. Ever since my childhood, I have always known you as a bowler who got wickets for India irrespective of how hostile the conditions were. Now that you have taken over the post, it makes me believe that the Indian team is in safe hands and the team shall perform well in the overseas conditions too.

Being an aspiring player and an ardent follower of the game, I have taken the leaf of competitive spirit from your book of repertoire. I remember that your entry to the international cricket was an inconspicuous one. You had to wait for 2 long years before you played your 2nd Test, after having made your debut in 1992. The wait didn’t bog you down, but only brought a better bowler in Anil Kumble to the fore, a bowler that took 6/53 on his return. To speak more on it, a bowler that bowled 22 maidens out of the 44 overs in that spell.

The historians and most of the modern day fans know your name as the bowler who scalped the perfect 10 at Kotla against Pakistan. But I know, your love affair with Kotla began way earlier than that. After all, it was your heroics at the Kotla in the Irani Trophy, 13 wickets for the Rest of India – if I am recalling it well enough, that cemented your place in the national setup. It was the same venue when you dismantled the Zimbabwean batting line-up in a one-off Test in the following year. This is how the foundation of a fortress was laid. I hope the Indian team under your guidance makes many such fortresses in all parts of the world.

Also check out – 9 Quotes on Anil Kumble’s appointment as Indian coach

Team India has been doing really well. We reached the semi-finals of the 50 over World Cup last year and also in the T20 World Cup in 2016. We have done well in Tests at home and sporadically well overseas. However, there hasn’t been a time when we clicked as a unit in all three formats at the same time. However, with you in the setup, I believe this can be a certainty in the near future; just the way you had removed the tag of being a Test bowler by scalping 6/12 against West Indies in an ODI at Kolkata in the Hero Cup of 1993 – an ODI record that remained untouched for almost a decade. Coincidentally, your first assignment as a coach happens to be against the same opposition.

For the time being, you have been given a year. But I am sure the time, or perhaps the lack of it doesn’t bother you much. After all, you have always been the ‘quicker’ one. It took just 21 Tests to reach the milestone of 100 wickets. I just cannot stop myself from mentioning the perfect 10. This is how I have been rating you ever since the day I knew what the game of cricket was. I have always dreamt of becoming a bowler like you, one that delivers on every occasion, in every condition, against every opposition, relentlessly for years and years. You simply bamboozled the entire batting lineup of Pakistan. How often do we see a bowler charm all the batsmen at the same time? Not too often, I would like to reassure.

Also read – 5 Reasons why Anil Kumble is the best choice for Indian coach

There have been talks that Indian team lacks spirit at times when it comes to competitiveness. The tail-enders are blamed for putting a no-show at crunch times. But I am sure, for a master of the craft that you are; the youngsters in the team will certainly imbibe the never-say-die attitude in themselves. Perhaps your gritty 88 at the number 8 position against South Africa in 1996 should be a testimony of the same grit and courage.

The sights of Anil Kumble bowling with a strapped jaw are etched in my earliest memories of cricket. 7-year-old I was, when I asked my father why this bowler is not resting when he should be. My father quietly affirmed, ‘he is the jumbo’. Soon I saw you zip through the defences of Brian Lara and getting the priced wicket. I believe, my father had got his words right – perfectly right.

There have been great spinners but none like you. I say that not because of the spin credentials you have, but for the reason that you have a Test ton to your name, unlike Warne or Murali. My argument might sound very lame but this is how I rate my childhood hero above all. You have taken the responsibility whenever it beckoned. After 118-Test experience, you took the responsibility of leading the Test team. You redefined the adage – with great power comes great responsibility. You didn’t shy away from it. As I recall the boxing day Test in 2008, you snacked up 5/84 to restrict Australia to 343. It was the same series when you became only the 3rd bowler to scalp 600 Test wickets.

Your retirement in 2008 marked the end of an era. It could be befitting to say that a part of me rested forever as I saw you bid adieu to came. Somewhere in my young heart, I wondered what would happen to the team now; who would India turn up to on the dead surfaces to get them the wickets? Though the Harbhajans and the Ashwins have done their part but haven’t quite lived to the standards we were so used to.

Also read – 24 Facts about Anil Kumble- the Jumbo match winner

The Indian team is scheduled to have a preparatory camp in your home town Bengaluru before they fly to the Caribbean islands for the Test series. I hope the city serves as a lucky charm for your side as this is the venue where you scalped your 100th, 300th and the 400th wicket. I am confident enough that Mr. Anil Kumble will make the Indian team what he is best known for – the perfect 10!

A Jumbo fan.