Anil Kumble described India’s win against England in the Headingley Test in 2002 as the moment which infused self-belief in the Indian players.
“We were able to prove people wrong. Captain Sourav Ganguly decided to bat first in Headingley under conditions not helpful for batting. It was a bold move and the players responded to the challenge by beating England. It sort of ignited a spark in us that we could perform away from home,” said the leg-spinner while talking about captaincy during a keynote address at the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture series at the CCI.
Kumble took seven wickets in the Test as England, replying to India’s mammoth 628 in the first innings, was bowled out twice and ended up losing the third Test by an innings and 46 runs.
Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar scored centuries after the captain opted to bat under conditions which favoured swing bowling. The leg-spinner said: “In reality, a captain’s job is to get the best out of his players. There is no such thing as a team decision when it comes to captaincy. There are team suggestions, but the final decision is taken by the team captain always.”
He felt that the bowlers deserved more opportunities to take over leadership roles in the game. “Bowlers are, by and large, the thinking members of the team, always plotting and strategising to dismiss rival batsmen. This is what captains are expected to,” said Kumble, one of the bowlers to assume the leadership role after Sachin Tendulkar stepped down from captaincy. “You need to take 20 wickets to win Test matches, and bowlers are needed to get the job done.”
He also listed four bowler-captains India had — Ghulam Ahmed, S. Venkataraghavan, Bishen Bedi and himself.
MonkeygateKumble was in charge when Harbhajan Singh was accused by the Australians of abusing Andrew Symonds during the Sydney Test in 2008. “My job as India captain was to stand by my players. The incident happened far away for me to hear the words being said. It happened on the field of play and could have been sorted out if both captains had talked it out.”
Later, Harbhajan was asked to appear at a disciplinary hearing, and was quite upset about it. “We had gone to Australia to win, something we were not supposed to be capable of doing. With support from the other seniors in the squad, I convinced our players, especially an upset Harbhajan, to carry on our job.”
Kumble revealed that he received a message from Bedi during the Monkeygate controversy.
“He asked me to take a decision I will be proud of later, when you look back in history,” said one of India’s most aggressive bowler-captains.
Kumble refuted the suggestion that a captain is only as good as his team. “In fact, it is vice-versa; a capable captain can make his players perform far above their abilities. New Zealand is doing just that, under Brendon McCullum who is a batsman-captain. They are aggressive and it is a reflection on McCullum’s personality.”
