Captain Kumble calls time on glorious career

New Delhi: Call him humble, selfless, fighter, brave, honest, uncompromising, but Anil Kumble was not quite known for his sense of humour.

As he drew the curtains on a glorious career full of heady highs and unimaginable lows, Kumble, in a manner befitting his unassuming ways, walked in for one last press conference. After laying his reasons for retirement on the table, Kumble, as always, continued to speak about the various facets of his team and team-mates.

And as he summed up his career, he put the team ahead of him even as he spoke of his achievements and criticisms. "Things didn't go my way over the last six months or so individually, but we continued to do well as a team… But I don't regret any moment in my career."

He spoke of great victories and embarrassing defeats in equal measure, reliving moments of a timeless international career, throughout an 18-year career where he was at once written off as a spinner who didn't turn the ball. "I have cherished this cap for 18 years. I know how hard I had to fight to earn this cap. I'm proud to have represented 1 billion people whose expectations keep rising each time you go out there."

A recurring theme during the press conference was the mention of "we". "We have given them sadness, sorrow, but we have also given them happiness."

Almost everything associated with Anil Kumble is timeless, just like his career, like a tradition that began nine years ago at the Ferozeshah Kotla and ended at the same venue. "Today, Sachin took my cap and handed it over to the umpire for one last time. He started doing that in 1999 when I got 10 wickets. Back then he insisted on doing so after the first few instances led me to get a wicket. And it continued. So when he came over to me to take my cap, I said to him, 'One last time'."

Even while recalling his criticisms in his early days, he credited the faith shown by his team-mates. "My team knew what I was capable of." And the fervour with which he recalled his illustrious team-mates evoked nostalgia. "Among the moments I cherish will be my first Test series in 1990 under Azhar, of course the 10-wicket haul and India's victories all over the world."

During the period in which Anil Kumble was establishing a reputation of demolition man, another ageless wonder was shaping up. "I have literally watched every run Sachin has scored, almost all 50,000 of them," he said as the audience chuckled.

The charm about cricket belies Kumble's character. "Individuals get more attention in a team sport like cricket, especially in India." For a team bustling with superstars, Kumble was a calming influence, perhaps keeping them grounded. Commercial success never defined his stature, only his 619 Test wickets did.

Not even when he was dragged into disciplinary hearings, something that was unheard of in his days as a player, but the last 11 months as captain got him backing his mates as relentlessly as he bowled.

Even his immediate plan post retirement centered around some of his illustrious partners in crime. "I won't be travelling with the team to Nagpur, but I will definitely go there to watch Sourav's last Test and Laxman's 100th to wish him well. Our ultimate goal was to win the series, and I would like to be a part of that."

For a man not used to individual attention, Kumble might find himself isolated as retirement sinks in. He would have to put himself before team as he sorts out his schedule for numerous interviews. As he said, he couldn't go through the grinds of Test cricket anymore, but for a man who never changed, never quit, forever probed, finally pulled the plug on his glorious career with an inglorious full toss.

And by the end of the press conference, he was complete.

Anil Kumble's parting words to the media were: "I would like to thank my family, my parents, my brother who encouraged me to bowl leg-spin. Although despite playing for 18 years, I'm still trying to figure out how to bowl leg-spin."