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Good Bye Dada and Jumbo!

Kumble and Ganguly have called it quits! Two extremely different personalities with altogether different skills but had one thing in common between them – The never ending fighting spirit. The way they showed their spirit were different as well. Ganguly was more outspoken, aggressive and controversial where as Kumble was a typical soft spoken and diplomatic Bangalorean.


Kumble and Ganguly, along with three other stalwarts of Indian cricket formed the so-called Fab 5 that redefined Indian cricket and marched along into an era of professional cricket that showcased exceptional talent. This, according to me, was the transition phase whereby the Indian cricket rediscovered its winning ways. Before that period, barring the Prudential World Cup win in 1983, the Indian cricket was all about less agressive tactics and test cricket always had a draw oriented approach.

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble, according to me, is well up there along with Murali and Warne as the finest spinner of modern cricket. When I say ‘finest’ it may not always mean the quality of spin but the altogether package of getting the work done! To be frank, I never enjoyed watching Kumble bowl – neither his action and run-up nor his poor athleticism and bad fielding. However, the never ending fighting spirit and patiencez is what anyone would fall for! 600 plus wickets in test cricket in twenty years is nothing but exceptional!

However, when I look back I still have the opinion that Kumble should have retired an year ago instead of taking up the captaincy. The reason was that since he took over the captaincy his bowling steadily deteriorated. Also, he was becoming something that is not ‘him’ as he put an artificial aggression around him during this period which was a major requirement for modern cricket captains. Other than this, I thought Kumble is/was as important as Sachin Tendulkar to Indian cricket though the fans almost always adore ONLY the batsmen here!

Saurav Ganguly

Whenever I think about Saurav Ganguly, I always wondered how he managed to play 100+ tests! Because, here is somebody, who was an accidental captain and more or less a One-day cricketer with limited technical abilities. But he became everything of Indian cricket, especially post 2000! There is no doubt that Saurav was a great fighter, but unless it was for his inclusion in the team as captain, there was no way he could have played 100 test matches for India – especially in a batting team comprising of Sachin, Rahul, VVS, Sehwag etc. I thought he played his role in Indian cricket extremely well, probably until the controversial exit, a couple of years back. But again, only Ganguly could have come up with the kind of resurgence – like a phoenix – that we saw in the past one year.

I would still call Saurav, one of the finest one-day cricketers and a good leader. At the same time he was a good politician and manipulator as well. He always knew what power, tactics and skills it takes to sustain the politically ruined (at least until a couple of years back) BCCI. And needless to say, he was the one who really took the fight on the opposition – including the off-field attacks. How many times has he got on to the nerves of Aussies?

Kudos to Ganguly and Kumble for whatever you have done to the World Cricket!

Question to the readers: What are the typical careers that these two could take up post their retirement?

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When do they learn to bow out gracefully?

Last week Sourav Ganguly made some controversial statements at the press complaining of bad treatment by the selectors and criticizing about the lack of planning! Yesterday, Anil Kumble, in his news paper column, lashed out at the Indian media for speculating about his retirement and shoulder injury.

These two stalwarts have certainly contributed heavily to Indian cricket in the past. Now the time has come for them to retire gracefully. Instead of calling it a day with pride, they are not able to come to terms with the fact that all their fame and steady income will be suddenly stopped now! And this is the curse of not only the Indian cricket but all other professions and careers in India as well. Even our politicians and actors just won’t quit until defeated in the poll or kicked out!

The game of Cricket is changing really fast! The focus now is shifting to packed Twenty 20 leagues and club cricket. There has been a time when the cricketers had careers lasting up to 18 or 20 years but that won’t be case any longer. Kumble and Ganguly should be happy that they could play for India for such a long time, create a few records and even captain the Indian team! What else is left to prove for them?

‘Just retire gracefully’ and ‘stop blabbering in the press!’ Remember, you are still playing for India and if you want your contributions to be remembered for ever, stop creating unwanted controversies!

PS:- If Kumble doesn’t realize yet, he was so pathetic in the first test match and hasn’t been having a good time for the past few matches as well. Another thing, the next test in the Ind-Aus series is being played at Mohali which is a fast pitch. Ideally, India should have played three pacers and a spinner there and Kumble’s presence would make the team selection for this test very interesting! I hope they don’t loose out in this match due to imbalance in bowling attack.