Kumble fit and raring to go

By G. Viswanath

MUMBAI, SEPT. 1. The `Smiling assassin' is all ready to step back onto the playing fields. Almost a dozen years of hard work and the resultant wear and tear had rendered Anil Kumble's bowling hand dysfunctional for nearly 10 months.

After being forced to be a spectator for an inordinately long time, which he spent recuperating from the shoulder injury, India's principal wickettaker in the 1990s is all set to return to international cricket. The leg-spinner, who will turn 31 on October 17, has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he is ``fit and available'' for selection for the full tour of South Africa in October-November.

The BCCI Hon. Secretary, Mr. Jaywant Lele, confirmed Kumble's readiness to travel to South Africa for the tri-series featuring India, Kenya and South Africa and the three-Test series. ``He has informed me about his fitness. He (also Javagal Srinath) will be examined by physiotherapist Andrew Leipus in Bangalore on Monday. The thing is, he (Kumble) has started bowling and taking wickets, too,'' said Mr. Lele.

Kumble, who has taken 550 wickets in international cricket (276 in 61 Tests and 274 in 208 one-day Internationals), has been considering his return to the Indian team for the tour of South Africa. As a first step he put his shoulder to a sort of `litmus test' in the Karnataka State Cricket Association Diamond Jubilee Invitation tournament (in Bangalore) and in the Buchi Babu tournament (in Chennai). These two tournaments saw his return to matches of competitive nature after a lapse of nine months.

Only Kumble can say whether he has completed the full course of the rehabilitation of his shoulder. The first diagnosis in Sharjah (after the first match of the Coca-Cola Trophy against Sri Lanka on October 20, 2000) apparently pointed to a mere bruise of the shoulder bone. But as it transpired, it turned out to be more serious causing Kumble to miss the inaugural Test against Bangladesh (in Dhaka) and the subsequent home series against Zimbabwe and Australia and thereafter the away series in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Since January, he has seen the Johannesburg-based expert Dr. Mark Ferguson at least twice, underwent surgery and committed himself to a rehabilitation routine before he decided to wear the flannels in the tournaments in Bangalore and Chennai. In his spare time he worked out the modalities of the gradation/contract system the BCCI will be introducing soon. But it has been almost a month of anticipation for the country's leading wickettaker, whose diligence appears to have paid off.

Kumble may not have exerted and put his shoulder to full use, but the fact that he took four wickets in an innings (for KSCA in the Diamond Jubilee tournament) and five in another (in the Buchi Babu) on his comeback trail is obviously good news for Indian cricket. Should things go well for him, India's captain for the tour of South Africa (Sourav Ganguly is expected to be named captain by the selection committee here next Thursday) will have at his command a bowler who has a proven record, just short of the spectacular, against South Africa.

In his last Test for India, Kumble took six for 143 in the first innings of the second Test against South Africa at the Chinnaswamy Stadium 17 months ago. He very nearly won for India the first Test at the Wankhede Stadium, but, on that eventful day, Mark Boucher swung the match in South Africa's favour. He took 18 wickets in four Tests in the `Friendship series' of 1993, 13 in three Tests in the home series in 1996, eight wickets in three Tests of the away series in 1996-97 and then 12 wickets in two home Tests in Mumbai and Bangalore in 2000. His tally against the Proteas is 51 wickets from 12 Tests.

The national selectors are to meet here on two days (Sept. 6 to pick the captain and on Sept. 7 to pick the 15-member Indian team for the tri-series). That he has proved his fitness by playing in two tournaments should clear the way for his selection alongwith off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. But the first time in many months, the selectors will have a decent lot of seamers and medium pacers to pick from in Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rakesh Patel, Debasis Mohanty and Harvinder Singh.

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