Never say die, Kumble!

King of Kotla, Anil Kumble becomes the first among the Indians and the fifth bowler in the cricketing world to take 500 wickets.

Kumble is simply amazing, many say he does have the variety, turn, etcetera, etcetera; he had just silenced everyone on his way reaching this memorable milestone.

Kumble achieved this landmark in the Mohali test when he surprised the hulky Harimson with his flipper. In the process Kumble helped India beat England by 9 wickets to go up 1-0 in the TVS cup three test series, and also bagging the man of the match award.

Kumble is always a devastating bowler and the way he bowled in this test match was another treat to watch; especially the over he bowled to Flintoff who replaced Ian Bell was impeccable in line and length as the batsman had no clue of how the ball is behaving. Flintoff was totally off as he was comprehensively beaten 4 times in a span of 6 deliveries but he managed to live dangerously rather than his former Collingwood, who after few reprieves followed a Kumbles’ delivery to the safe hands of Dravid in the slips.

In almost all the major test wins for India, Kumble has played a significant role. He is the perfect fit to bowl in the Indian conditions, not even a Murali or Warne can do this here. It’s always going to wait, wait and watch for any loosener from Kumble; every single delivery is going to be lethal and the batsmen need hell out of concentration to negotiate an entire over, as Boycott puts it, “If I were batting against Kumble in India, I would just grab a single and get down to the other end as quickly as I could!”

Fondly called as Jumbo by teammates, Kumble holds a special place in my inspiration role models.

Kudos Kumble bhai!