'It was a wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan'
Rahul Dravid's tenure as India Head Coach, which ended gloriously with the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados on Saturday, will remain a case study on how to be stately and understated at the same time in modern-day cricket coaching.
"It was tough to bowl on this pitch. It got slower and slower and even when it spun it spun very slowly. Considering the pitch and the conditions I thought our bowlers put in a fantastic effort," Kumble said after the second drawn Test against Pakistan.
From bowling mainstay to national coach now, it has been a roller-coaster ride for Anil Kumble in Indian cricket and the celebrated leg-spinner picked the 2002 win over England in the Headgingley Test as the "defining moment" of his career.
Inspired by India's performance during their last tour Down Under, new Test captain Anil Kumble feels his team has the ammunition to stop the Australian Juggernaut.
Indian Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal reached Uttar Pradesh on Sunday to take part in the Ram Temple 'Pran Pratistha' ceremony to be held in Ayodhya on Monday and expressed their delight, saying that she feels fortunate to have come for the event.
Rishabh Pant may be the flavour this domestic cricket season but chief coach Anil Kumble feels that Parthiv Patel's experience as well as better "keeping skills" have enabled him to make a comeback into Indian Test side after eight long years. "Parthiv has been really consistent both with his keeping as well as his batting. That's why Parthiv was chosen. Rishabh has certainly shown the exuberance a young cricketer can bring in. He has shown a lot of batting skills. He has obviously got a lot of runs in domestic cricket. But Parthiv was chosen for his keeping skills and his experience," Kumble said on Thursday, giving a peek into his thought process on Patel's selection.
'Tough,' was how an emotional Anil Kumble summed up his 18-year journey in cricket at a felicitation ceremony, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in Nagpur, on Thursday night. The veteran leggie called it a day after the third Test in Delhi and was deservedly honoured by the BCCI on the first day of the fourth Test against Australia.
India is ranked fourth among team in the charts.
Reader Mufaddal Narsingarwala spotted ace Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble at the Bangalore airport.
Recovering from a malignant tumour between his lungs in the United States, star India cricketer Yuvraj Singh was paid a "surprise" visit by former skipper Anil Kumble.
'Nonchalance is a way of life for him'
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli along with his limited-overs counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a special meeting with head coach Anil Kumble and U-19 coach Rahul Dravid in Bengaluru on Sunday. The meeting was also attended by chief national selector Sandeep Patil, GM (Cricket Operations) MV Sridhar, National Cricket Academy's batting coach WV Raman, spin bowling coach Narendra Hirwani, chairman of junior selection committee Venkatesh Prasad and team physio Andrew Leipus.
India's captain also said off-spinner Ramesh Powar is competing for a spot with one of the pace bowlers.
The 15-member India squad was announced today for the remaining two ODIs vs West Indies.
Rohit Sharma to captain India in this year's T20 World Cup
Star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in contention for the prestigious title of Test Cricketer of the Year
The veteran leg spinner is staking a strong claim for inclusion in the team for Champions Trophy due to his fine record on home soil.
Wednesday marked a special day for two members of the Indian cricket team who will be playing a crucial role in the upcoming series in West Indies. While it was the first day in office for legendary spinner Anil Kumble, who took charge as the head coach, it was also a moment to savour for young pacer Shardul Thakur. It was the Mumbai pacer's first outing with the Indian cricket team at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
Former Test captain Anil Kumble reckons it is India's best chance to lift the ODI World Cup after 1983 but fitness of players will be a major concern and ending the 28-year-old drought will depend on the squad's ability to remain injury-free during the event.
Stylish batsman Ajinkya Rahane hailed BCCI's decision to appoint former skipper and spin great Anil Kumble as Team India coach saying his tips will take Indian cricket forward. "This will be my first experience with Anil bhai (Anil Kumble). When I was with Mumbai Indians, he was not there (with MI), he came after the third year. A player like him becoming India's coach is a big and a good news for Indian cricket going forward," he told reporters in Mumbai. "He has so much of experience, he has played international cricket for so many years, definitely his tips, his importance will take Indian cricket forward," the 28-year-old player said.
Former Indian captain Anil Kumble on Sunday said that absence of key players in the Indian team cost them a major tournament like Champions Trophy.
'What I like about them is their stubbornness. If you doubt them, they'll double down on it and go even more stubborn.'
Newly-appointed India coach Anil Kumble dismissed reports of conflict of interest between his new job and his involvement in a sports firm as well as heading the International Cricket Council's Cricket Committee.
Images from Team India's four-day camp, in preparation for the upcoming Test tour of the West Indies later this month, in Bengaluru.
The way we recovered from the Sydney defeat and won at Perth was just great, said the Indian skipper.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja became the first Indian bowler to top the bowlers' chart in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings after former captain Anil Kumble claimed the pole position way back in 1996.
Sachin Tendulkar has described the Indian team's newly-appointed head coach, Anil Kumble, as a "fabulous" player who will teach the players how to "win big moments".
Reader Vinod Salian sent us this picture from Hove.
Former India captain and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president Anil Kumble has raised questions about the Indian Cricket Board's age-verification process for various junior level tournaments.
However, it is not known why former captain and current national coach Anil Kumble, an equal contributor along with these five during Indian cricket's golden phase, has not been included in the felicitation list.
V Jayadevan, who devised the VJD System for calculating target scores in interrupted limited-overs matches, requested the ICC cricket committee's chairman Anil Kumble to include his appeal in its agenda at its meeting later this year.
An agitated Indian skipper Anil Kumble hardly minced words in blaming the dubious umpiring by Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor for his side's heart-breaking loss to Australia in the second cricket Test in Sydney on Sunday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said Anil Kumble was nearly dropped for their famous tour to Australia in 2003-04 but it was him who fought with the selectors till late in the night to take the legendary leg-spinner on board. According to Ganguly, the selectors were keen for a left-arm spinner Murali Kartik for the tour Down Under but on Ganguly's insistence Kumble was taken as he returned with 24 wickets, the highest in the series with India retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after drawing the series 1-1.
Former Indian Test skipper Anil Kumble sought to rubbish speculation that senior players were announcing retirement under BCCI diktat.
The pitch for the India-England match held up well, but the same cannot be said for the Umpire's Decision Review System, says former India captain Anil Kumble.
'Surreal effort, and superhuman at times.'
Patel lauded Joe Root for supporting the three main spinners with a fine spell.
The leg-spinner has grabbed 22 wickets in three matches against Pakistan at an average of 20.50.
Anil Kumble has rendered a yeoman service to the Indian cricket team but it's time for the seasoned leg-spinner to quit and pass the Test captaincy to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, feels former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram.
