Test skipper Anil Kumble has come out strongly in defence of the starry Indian middle-order batsmen who came a cropper against the Sri Lankan spin duo of Ajantha Mendis and Muthiah Muralitharan in the recently concluded three-match series in the Emerald Isle which the visitors lost 2-1.
"I don't know who gave this tag - Fab Four. They have done so much for Indian cricket over the last fifteen years. Agreed, they failed in this Test series, but it happens in cricket. We should not forget their contribution in the past," he said at a promotional event in Mumbai.
The 'Fab Four' the ace leg spinner was referring to -- Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman -- performed much below expectations in the series.
"This was the first series they could not perform. I feel it's too harsh on them since they have been constantly performing over the last decade," Kumble said and pointed out that Laxman should not be considered to have failed.
"To put Laxman in that list is not fair since he performed well. Sourav and Rahul, although, were having it tough, but you cannot write them off," he defended.
Laxman was the most impressive performer among these stalwarts, aggregating 215 runs with two half centuries and an average of 43.0 to his credit.
Dravid accumulated 148 runs averaging an unimpressive 24.66 while Tendulkar, within striking distance of overhauling Brian Lara's record Test run aggregate, and Ganguly flopped miserably.
While lauding mystery spinner Mendis for his performance, Kumble also cautioned the Sri Lankan youngster to evolve constantly as a bowler and not become "predictable".
"Mendis is an exceptional bowler. He is certain to flummox opponents with his accuracy, variety and trajectory. Nevertheless he has to make sure he continues to improve so that he doesn't become predictable," he said.
Drawing a parallel with his own googly and Mendis's carrom ball, Kumble said the Lankan sensation needs to be complimented for the way he does it with a hard ball.
"Generally the carrom ball is bowled with a tennis ball. But Mendis bowls it with the hard (cricket) ball which is relatively hard (difficult) and he ought to be given credit for it. Even my googly is based on the carrom ball as I bowled a lot of it with the tennis ball," he explained.
Kumble agreed with retired Australian wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist that cricket deserved a place in the Olympic Games and pointed out the success of the willow game's inclusion in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia.
Looking ahead to the long season, which includes tough home back-to-back rubbers against Australia and England, Kumble said the domestic cricket season would be ideal to get into the groove.
"There's a month left now before Australia come in. We need to have match practice and gain some confidence. The Irani Trophy is there and lots of domestic games which should give us good match practice," he felt.
