Gambhir has shown his credentials: Kumble

June 17, 2012

Kumble_Appreciates_Gautham

Former captain Anil Kumble on Saturday hailed Gautam Gambhir's success as a captain in the IPL and said it's good that Indian cricket has "somebody else" apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni to lead from the front.

Talking to reporters during a promotional programme here, Kumble, however, said that Dhoni was doing well as a Test captain save the eight defeats against England and Australia in the team's last two tours.

"He (Gambhir) has showed his credentials. He has the ability. It's nice to have somebody else in the team who has showed his ability, led from the front and batted well," Kumble said referring to Gambhir's stint with the triumphant Kolkata Knight Riders.

"It augurs well for Indian cricket. But Test captaincy is different from T20. Apart from the eight Tests, Dhoni has done well in the past. I consider this as a leadership group, which is a core group in the team," Kumble said.

The former spinner said that it was frustrating to see the once world number 1 team losing eight Tests in a row.

"Defeat can be acceptable when you know that the opposition is dominating, but not when you are a No 1 side. The last time, we were dealt with such a blow was in 2000 Australia series that we had lost 0-3."

However, he hoped that those defeats would serve as a wake-up call ahead of India's upcoming engagements.

"To see that happen again, was very difficult to digest. Hope this serves as a wake up-call and kick-start a process. Hope they do well in the coming months."

Kumble also spoke about Chris Gayle and his exploits for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

"He is just amazing. Please don't remind me of bowling to him. In Bangalore before Gayle came in, only three or four sixes were hit out of the park (M Chinnaswamy). But after he came in (to RCB) every season he dispatches at least three out of the stadium.

"The cricket has changed these days with more and more flat wicket. I'm really glad that he is with us at RCB."

Asked whether the art of legspin is dying with more and more teams boasting of off-spinners, Kumble said the pitches these days are not favourable for tweakers.

"Nowadays, all wickets are similar. To encourage spinners, you have to give them the suitable conditions."

But he added that every team boasted of a world class spinner, which is an encouraging sign.

About the number 3 Test slot left vacant by his state-mate Rahul Dravid's retirement, Kumble said there were quite a few capable players waiting in the wings.

"Virat Kohli is doing well and so is Cheteshwar Pujara. There is also Suresh Raina for the slot. We will have to wait and see, though it's difficult to get to a level where Dravid was."

Asked to pick his favourites for the upcoming World T20 in Sri Lanka in September, Kumble said: "It's difficult to predict in a World Twenty20. All teams have chances in a format of T20. There are England who are the defending champions, West Indies too have good attacking cricketers. All teams have chances."

About Sourav Ganguly's decision to continue playing despite having retired from international cricket in 2008, Kumble said: "I'm no one to say whether Sourav Ganguly should play or not. I took a call four years ago as I felt the need to give opportunity to the youngsters. When I left, I felt that Dhoni had it in him to lead the side."

Kumble said his comeback series against South Africa, where he bagged his first five-for in 1992, was the turning point in his career.

"I was firm on my belief. I made a comeback (after two years) in South Africa where I took my first five-wicket haul. There I realised that I could make a difference.

Kumble said he was fortunate to be part of an Indian team that had world class batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag.

"I am happy that I only bowled at them at the nets."

The Bangalorean picked Australian Steve Waugh, West Indian Brian Lara and South African Jacques Kallis as the three who challenged him the most.

"Lara would look to attack, while Waugh would negate your bowling and wait for the loose delivery. Kallis, on the other hand, would bore you to bowl a loosener. He is so technically sound that you would always cherish taking his prized scalp."

Kumble noted that his engineering degree helped him in becoming a better spinner.

"I knew I was not a turner of the ball. The engineering that I learnt helped me in cricket. Especially with the turns, trajectories of the deliveries. I had to analyse my bowling, worked on my angles and variations (with the speed).

"I was not as talented as Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralidaran who could turn the ball even on a stage like this. I had to be analytical. At times, you have to let go your egos. I had to look at the videos of the batsmen who were dominant. Then I would see what the bowlers would do to contain them... It helped."

Talking on the sidelines of an education fair, Kumble urged the students to make a firm choice about their career and be happy with it.

Recalling his days as a mechanical engineering student, Kumble said: "I would be a bad example. But I was firm on becoming a cricketer, who could make a difference to Indian cricket.

"I did not want to be an 'also-played-for-India' cricketer, but somebody who could contribute to the Indian team. I was firm on my choice," he said about the time when he was dropped after debuting as a 19-year-old in the Test against England in Manchester in August 1990.

"My elder brother (Dinesh) was an engineer so the choice was obvious. During our days, it used to be either engineering or medical. I'm happy that I opted for engineering as I feel I would not have become a cricketer had I opted for medical."




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News Network
January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: The pitches in New Zealand have become a lot more batting-friendly over the years, says iconic former batsman Sachin Tendulkar, insisting that India have the “ammunition” to trouble the sprightly hosts during the upcoming series.

Tendulkar, who has been on a record five New Zealand tours since 1990, feels that from seaming tracks during his early trips years, the tracks became high-scoring hard ones during his last tour back in 2009.

“Of late, the Tests in New Zealand have been high scoring and surfaces have changed,” Tendulkar told PTI during an exclusive interview.

India will play five T20 Internationals, three ODIs and two Tests during the tour starting with the shortest format on January 24.

From 2002, when India played ODIs and Tests on green tops, to 2009, when India won only their second Test series in 32 years, Tendulkar has seen it all in New Zealand.

“I remember when we played in 2009, the Hamilton pitch was different compared to other pitches. Other pitches got harder (Wellington and Napier) but not Hamilton. It remained soft.

“But Napier became hard with passage of time (where Gautam Gambhir scored an epic match-saving 12-hour hundred in 2009). So, from my first tour (in 1990 till 2009), I realised pitches got harder with passage of time,” Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar is confident that the Indian bowling attack, spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, has the ammunition to put New Zealand in trouble.

“We have a good bowling attack with quality fast bowlers as well as spinners. I believe we have the ammunition to compete in New Zealand.”

However, in Wellington, Tendulkar wants the team to be well-prepared to counter the breeze factor.

“Wellington, I have played and it makes a huge difference if you are bowling with the wind or against the wind. The batsman needs to be judicious in the choice of which end he wants to attack, it is very important,” he said.

Tendulkar said he would prefer spinners to bowl against the breeze.

“...the seamers bowling against the strong breeze need to be smart. So I would prefer that if there is strong breeze, let the spinner bowl from that end and from the opposite end, the fast bowler bowls with the breeze behind him,” he said.

The maestro is confident that Rohit Sharma's white ball experience will hold him in good stead in the Tests as well, an assignment that has been kept for the last leg of the trip, which begins with five T20 Internationals from January 24.

“The challenge would be to go out and open in different conditions. I think Rohit had opened in New Zealand in ODIs and has been there quite a few times, he knows the conditions well. Eventually, Test cricket is Test cricket,” he said.

“But all depends on surfaces that they provide. If they provide green tops, then it's a challenge.”

There is no Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Deepak Chahar in limited-overs series but Tendulkar is not ready to press the panic button.

“Injuries are part and parcel of the game when you play and push your body to the limits.

“When you play for your country you need to give your best and while you give your best, you can get injured. That's okay,” he concluded.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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