‘We have a leader in Dhoni’

Anil Kumble looks ahead to a new innings with his own cricket academy

BANGALORE: On Monday, it was exactly five years to a day that Anil Kumble lost his father. It was also just one day after he had announced his retirement from Test cricket. A lesser man would have ignored the long-waiting media, and chosen the sanctuary of home.

However, even though he was exhausted and emotionally drained, Kumble displayed characteristic calm and patience. “It’s a tough day for me today. My father passed away on this very day five years ago so it’s a bit tough but I am sure he is up there blessing me and I miss him,” he said. “It’s not easy. Life goes on and this is time for transition for me.”

 He remained stoic about his decision to retire. “After having played for 17 years and then to get the captaincy, you can’t expect to captain for the next five years as though you have a 25-year career, especially for a bowler. It’s the right time for me to hand over the captaincy to Dhoni. He is perfectly in the position to accept it and I think we have a very able leader in him and I hope we have many more victories under him,” he said. “The team looks pretty set to go on and become number one in all forms of the game.” 

Kumble praised his other successor too, the 25-year-old leggie Amit Mishra. “Mishra has done really well as a young spinner in his first Test to win the match for us. I think he is the new future,” Kumble said. “I think it’s all about moving forward and I am sure Indian cricket will move forward.”

As far as his own future is concerned, he said, “There were plans of starting an academy in Bangalore, maybe I will start focusing on that. Not immediately but a couple of months later. But the process will start now.” His varied interests will ensure that he has enough to keep busy with, for instance, photography. “I will hopefully challenge myself in a different field as well,” he said. And anyone who has followed his career would know that there is little doubt that he will.