Aiming Glory at London 2012

As expected by many, the heroics of Indian athletes were duly forgotten by the Indian public as the cricketers began taking centre stage. The likes of Abhinav Bindra, Vijender and Sushil Kumar who became the darlings of Indian media and people as they won unprecedented three medals for the country and received tumultuous reception and were showered with praise and prize money. One wonders if these Olympians would have received the same ovation had the celebrity cricketers like Sachin and Dravid had not flopped badly in Sri Lanka around the same time.
This month saw some of the most glorious sporting achievements by Indian sportsmen in sports other than Cricket and yet they hardly got the attention they deserved. Vishy Anand became the undisputed world Chess Champion by beating Russian Vladimir Kramnik just recently. This surely must rank as one of the topmost accomplishments by an Indian. Yet it was overshadowed by Tendulkar becoming the highest run getter in Test Cricket.
Last week, three promising Indians fared most successfully on the world stage. Ironically their feats were hardly noticed against the emotional backdrop of Anil Kumble’s retirement. Saina Nehwal, the potential Gold medal winner in 2012 Olympics, won the World Junior Badminton crown. Nanao Singh won the Gold at world Junior Boxing championship. Gagan Narang did India proud by winning gold at the World Shooting Championship.But the media was so busy paying tributes to Anil Kumble that these feats were left to be displayed in the news trackers at the bottom of the screens of news channels!
As a matter of fact, India now has a good bunch of athletes in few sports who can be expected to fare better in forthcoming Olympics. These talented athletes desperately need backing of we Indians. We as a nation have to rally around them and boost their confidence. Avnish Anand has taken this initiative - India at London - to mobilise enthusiasm among sports loving fraternity.

It is indeed high time that India pays serious attention to Olympics as success in Olympics is now being equated to the nation's all round excellence. India's might is now being recognised internationally in many fields such as military strength, Economic development, science and technology. So why should we lag behind in sports? Let us all come together and take India to sporting glory as well. Go India Go!!

Is Anil Kumble India's Greatest Bowler?

As the Indian Cricket team enters the VCA Stadium in Nagpur tommorrow, it will be without Anil Kumble, India's most successful bowler in nearly two decades. Ever since Kumble announced his retirement a couple of days ago, glowing tributes are being paid to him by everybody. Cricket Pundits, most of whom Kumble's former colleagues have tried to put him on par with, if not ahead of, all time greats like Sachin and Kapil.
While comparing Kumble to Sachin - the specialist batsman, and Kapil - an all rounder, may be a little out of place, Kumble's exploits as a bowler can be reviewed against performance of some of the top class bowlers India has produced over the years. There is no doubt that statistically speaking Anil Kumble is the highest wicket taker and biggest natch winner. But statistics has to be linked with circumstances.
Anil Kumble's 619 wickets come in 132 tests he played during the span of eighteen years (1990 - 2008). For most part of his career, he was the lone strike bowler India had. Hence it is natural he claimed major share of wickets. In the sixties and seventies, India had services of famous spin quartet (Prasanna, Bedi, Chandra and Venkat) all of whom were match winners. Hence the spoils had to be shared by them.
India plays 10-15 test every year now. Earlier, the test matches were few and far in between. Erapalli Prasanna's career spanned for 16 years (1962-1978) in which he got only 49 tests and claimed 189 wickets. Same is the case with other spin greats. (Bedi, 13 years, 67 tests, 266 wickets), (Chandra, 15 years, 58 tests, 242 wickets). If the same amount of Cricket was played in those days as it is now, there is no doubt that all of them would have reached 600 wickets! ( List of Indian Test bowlers with most wickets )
Kumble has played in an era when India boasts of strongest ever batting line up. Prolific run scoring spree of Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Sehwag has contributed a large deal to Kumble's success. Prasanna, Bedi and co. on the other hand had to contend with the poor batting strength of the team. Only Gavaskar and vishwanath were the world class batsmen in the Seventies.
Cricket is a professional sport now. It is a full time profession mow. The cricketers of earlier generations were ametur sportsmen, involved in other mundane employment when away from the game. Kumble had an edge over modern fitness and training regimes which some of the earlier greats did not have.
The advent of limited overs version has also influenced test cricket. Cricket is more attacking and hence there are more opportunities to take wickets. Kumble has certainly benefited and so has Warne and Murali. Cricket has a wider following now because of live TV coverage. Hence, the exploits of the likes of Kumble have instant impact on the viewers.
This is not to take away anything from fom Kumble has achieved. All the credit to him for serving Indian Cricket for so long, and with such dignity. Statistically yes, He is the most successful bowler. Is he the greatest? I have my own reservations. What do you think? please go ahead and have your say..

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Kumble's Exit : Inevitable But Sad

Kumble's Exit : Inevitable But Sad

All good things eventually do come to an end. The news of Kumble's retirement that was announced this afternoon during the course of final day's play at Kotla was not exactly unexpected. It was clearly a news waiting to happen. Those who followed Australia's first innings batting must have seen Kumble's exaggerated exaltation as he claimed three lower order wickets. Three tests without troubling any top order batsman had clearly alarmed him. As it turned out, he himself revealed that he had made his decision on Saturday itself!

Playing international sport for nearly two decades with great distinction is certainly not every one's cup of tea. Anil Kumble's on field achievements are extra-ordinary no doubt. But his modest and dignified off the field behaviour is what will be missed in today's age where more and more sportsmen - even Indians - are frequently in the spotlight more for their tantrums than their performances on the ground.

Ironically despite taking nearly a thousand international wickets, Kumble never got a nod of approval from the game's purists as a top class spinner. He was all the while criticised for not having classical leg spinner's attributes. But never mind he won most matches for India than the famous spin quartet in seventies.

As the one day cricket started becoming poular, a spinner was feared as endangered species, three Cricketers Warne, Kumble and Murali revived the art of spin bowling. Ironically again, Kumble is not regarded in the same breath as the other two. This is probably because the controversies surrounding the other two - On field ones around Murali and off field ones around Warne!

When great men retire they leave behind a great vacuum. Fortunately for India the void created by Kumble's departure is ready to filled in. Captaincy reigns are ready to be taken over by MS Dhoni who has already proved his leadership qualities. Kumble's legspinning legacy is well and truly rested with the likes of Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla and Chaitanya Nanda. Having said that, it is hard to find a person with the same integrity, same application and same fierece competitive spirit as Anil Kumble brought to Indian dressing room. A sad day for Indian Cricket indeed!