Zafri Mudasser Nofil
Anil Kumble’s appointment as the Indian cricket team’s head coach was hailed as “achhe din for Indian cricket” by the great Sunil Gavaskar. And to prove that good days have really come, Kumble has one year ahead of him.
On June 23, 45-year-old Kumble was selected ahead of former Team Director Ravi Shastri, Australians Tom Moody and Stuart Law and a host of others for the high-profile position following an elaborate selection process headed by a three member Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
“It is not about Indian or foreign, it is about who is best for the job. I think we have used the services of best players who have served Indian cricket. There was no such limitation that we have to have only an Indian coach. We wanted the best for the Indian team,” BCCI President Anurag Thakur said.
Though he has no experience in coaching in the international arena, Kumble’s stint as a mentor with IPL teams such as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians as well as his vast experience as an international cricketer might have tilted the scale in his favour.
“He has been a match-winner for India. He has a great record and that speaks for Anil Kumble as far as winning matches for India is concerned. His performance will be reviewed after one year,” Thakur said.
The former leg-spinner played 132 Test matches and 271 ODls in a career spanning close to two decades. He finished his Test career with 619 scalps and bagged 337 ODI wickets. He is the only bowler after England’s Jim Laker to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings.
“This is the first time that we have gone through a process starting with advertisements. It has been a large amount of cricketing process. It has been very elaborate. There were marathon meetings. This is a professional appointment and that is the reason we want to be in a position to review our decision. But I hope that we won’t need to do that,” BCCI Secretary Ajay Shirke said.
“It’s a huge responsibility. I have always put my hands up for any sort of challenge. The coach’s role is in the background, it’s the players who come first and that would be my approach. I am ready to take this role,” Kumble said after BCCI officiallymade the announcement.
“It’s a great honour to be back in Indian dressing room in a different role.”
On his plans for the team, he said, “Strategy will be to win. There is still time to think about all that and sitwith the players.I have a short and long term plan for the upcoming series (against West Indies),but I cannot plan alone; I also need players to pitch in .”
Throughout his career, Kumble has been a fighter and a determined, dedicated and disciplined cricketer.He fought against all odds in his initial years for not being able to turn his leg-breaks or possessing a googly to emerge as the highest Indian wicket taker.
When it came to grit, who can forget that sight of Kumble bowling in the West Indies with a broken jaw and also taking Brian Lara’s wicket.
Former India coach Greg Chappell believesthat Kumble’s choice is an inspired one.
“I liked the look of Anil before I met him and was not disappointed when I got to know him.What you saw was what you got. There was never any fuss with Kumble. He prepared himself well and never relented on the field until the job was done. He would spend himself in the pursuit of success for the team and was always distressed if the team had not given its all.
“He was also one of the few who was prepared to speak up if he felt it was needed. No one dared to challenge him.
“On another occasion, I asked Kumble to speak to the bowling group about what the key issues were for him in his success at the international level. He never once mentioned technique; he talked about effort, belief in his ability and the importance of not giving up, no matter how hopeless the cause may have looked. Importantly, he talked about preparing well,” he wrote in a newspaper column.
“Kumble will demand the same commitment from the teams that he coaches. He will demand nothing less than 100 per cent effort, but he will be generous to those who give of their best and fall short on occasions!’
Greg says Virat Kohli is lucky to have a man of Kumble’s undoubted strengths as his ally and “it will be a powerful partnership that I expect will serve India well”.
“The coach/captain role in cricket is very different from other sports where the coach is the obvious leader. In cricket it is a joint venture off the field, but on the field, the captain must be the boss and must be seen as the boss by his players or his authority will be undermined. Kumble knows this and will work closely with and support Virat without undermining him. Virat on the other hand will continue to be a good role model for his group as he works hard on all aspects of his game.”
According to Greg, Indian cricket has never reached the heights that it should because it has relied too much on natural ability and flair rather than diligent preparation.
“Too often in the past, Indian teams have tried to take short-cuts rather than work hard so any success has been fleeting. It was something that I was appointed to change, but it needed key players, not least of all the captain, to buy-in and lead by example. Sadly, this didn’t happen until (Rahul)Dravid was appointed and the next 12 months brought some consistent success because of the change at the top.”
Greg says the level of expectation that has greeted Kumble’s appointment borders on unrealistic so, unless he gets the support of all of the key stakeholders, it may prove to be too much even for his indomitable spirit.
Greg’s brother Ian feels Kumble understands the Indian mentality better and doesn’t have to deal with star players on the wane.
In fact,Kumble has a couple of advantages over Greg, says Ian.
“Firstly, he’s in sync with the Indian mentality, and secondly, he doesn’t have to deal with star players nearing the end of their careers.
“The officials who appointed (Greg) Chappell as coach said they wanted to introduce an Australian mentality into Indian cricket.That was the last thing India really wanted, what with Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar nearing the end of their careers. When Chappell attempted to apply a bit of Australian logic to the situation, the outcry was deafening;’ he wrote in an article.
According to Ian, Kumble’s biggest challenge will be adapting to a role where he can’t alter the course of a match with his own deeds.
“I’ve never been a great believer in coaches at intemationa1 level to me, the best advisers are your team-mates, who are competing against the same opponents. The best coaches should be engaged at the lower levels, where the most good can be done, while the players are still in the development stage.”
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