A tribute to Kumble's fortitude

Bowlers generally take their batting seriously and want to tell the top-order batsmen that they can contribute more to the team when the chips are down than the batsmen who are keen to turn their arm over.

Bowlers by and large take great pride in their batting and generally complain that they are not encouraged to develop batting skills for fear of neglecting their main chore. That, perhaps, is one reason why the bowlers are not very keen on batting for long even in the nets. Some are even told that they should stick to their bowling and their contribution with the bat can at best be a bonus and not all that relevant to the overall scheme of things. Some other bowlers simply do not want to increase their workload for fear of falling between two stools.

No wonder there is a dearth of genuine all-rounders in today’s cricket. Ask Irfan Pathan and he will tell you the perils of trying to be an all-rounder.

Javagal Srinath is one who consciously stuck to his philosophy that he was there in the team as a bowler and he should not be expected to expend his energies on batting. He could have been a much better lower-order batsman, but a couple of knocks on his knuckles and forearm changed his mindset about batting and he saw it as drudgery.

Unlike his Karnataka teammate, Anil Kumble always wanted to be called a bowling all-rounder. Though no one categorised him as a tail-ender, there was a brief spell when he batted at nine and ten as some bowlers who had pretension to be better batsmen than Kumble superseded him. At another point of time his zest for batting was on the wane as questions were raised about his utility to the side as a bowler and he had to concentrate on his bowling. For most part of his illustrious career, he had put a heavy price on his wicket.

There have been countless occasions when Kumble stuck around with mainline batsmen or with the tail to save the Indian innings. His approach to batting was uncomplicated. Being a tall man he uses his reach to drive fluently on the offside and his trademark stroke is a slap-cut on bended knees. His maiden Test hundred at the Oval was long overdue. In fact, it came ten years too late. He looked an accomplished batsman against a much potent South African attack on a lively Eden Gardens pitch scoring 88. Most of his knocks have intent and purpose. Imagine his Man-of-the-Match award at the Oval is for his batting!

In the last two seasons his contribution as a batsman got deservedly magnified because of the inconsistent batting by the top-order batsmen and some of his knocks proved crucial and match-saving, a couple of times even match-winning. He has quietly carried on without a murmur even when he was unfairly treated by his captains. It is a great tribute to his character and fortitude. Lesser mortals would have cracked and called it quits. A pity, his last World Cup in the Caribbean four months ago was disastrous, batsmen letting the side down, while he played just one game at the 2003 edition in South Africa when India figured in the final.

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