Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 |
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Cricket
Anil Kumble will most certainly fly back home after the Antigua Test, but he will return a hero. Let's roll out the red carpet for this brave cricketer. His act of courage at the St. John's ground took us to good old values in cricket where the team came before everything else. Individuals don't win, the team does. Kumble's gesture, that could so easily have aggravated his injury, reflected just that. He was putting himself at great risk, enduring severe pain, for the team. When just about everyone ruled him out of the match and the rest of the tour, Kumble, realising that the side was desperately short of a spinner, walked into the ground, with a fractured jaw. It was astonishing. The Karnataka cricketer had taken a grievous blow on his jaw from a nasty lifter from Mervyn Dillon on the second day, and sadly for India, the injury turned out to be a fracture. When the West Indians began their reply before lunch on the third day, much of the talk centered around how much India would miss a specialist spinner on a track that could assist the spinners as the match progressed. When Kumble bowled, it shocked everyone, including yours truly, for none expected him to play further part in the game. Had I been the captain, I would have advised him to take care of his injury first. It is clear that Kumble's decision to come back was his own. Hats off to him for that. What more, the leg-spinner managed to scalp Brian Lara, who has a mind-boggling record in Antigua. It is a wicket that could have a significant bearing on this Test.Given the brittle nature of the West Indies line-up, the Indians could exert a lot of pressure on them, especially with Lara out of the way. The Antigua Test is by no means over, and if the Indians actually manage to win, then Kumble's contribution in dismissing Lara will shine like a beacon. Even, if he does not bowl any more in this Test. I salute Kumble for his strength of mind and character. It was written in this column that Harbhajan Singh, given his ability to beat the batsmen in the air, should be picked ahead of Kumble for this Test. I still hold that view. However, that is a different issue altogether. There have been a few instances earlier in cricket where a player's bravery has come to the fore. During the '83 tour of the Caribbean, Mohinder Amarnath, as gutsy as they come, was struck under the mouth by a nasty short delivery, an injury that required quite a few stitches; yet when `Jimmy' returned during the same innings, he hooked the first delivery he faced, from the feared Malcolm Marshall, for a six. Colin Cowdery once batted in the Test arena with a broken hand, and last year, in the Galle Test, Javagal Srinath, bowled with his left hand in plaster. Marshall had done it earlier. The list goes on. Kumble thus joins a select band of cricketers who have won our hearts through sheer courage. www.kris-srikkanth.com
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