Vision for Indian cricket : A beautiful mind of a man on mission

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Vision for Indian cricket : A beautiful mind of a man on mission Anil Kumble is a man with a vision, on a mission. Kadambari Murali speaks to India's Test captain about the upcoming Test series in S Africa and Dhoni & Co. More... A beautiful mind of a man on mission Kadambari Murali, Hindustan Times March 25, 2008 First Published: 11:30 IST(25/3/2008) Last Updated: 17:51 IST(25/3/2008) About a month ago, Anil Kumble was at a crossroads of sorts. Sitting in Kreeda, his graceful old-style Bangalorean bungalow and nursing a nagging side-strain, he was wondering what the coming months held for him, professionally speaking. "I'm exhausted," he had said quite candidly, "the last tour was very tough, mentally and physically". He added that he would be spending the time leading into the Test series against South Africa, beginning on Wednesday, working on recovering from the rigours of back-to-back Pakistan and Australia series and pushing his body to the limit. "I need to see how much it can take," he said. "It would be a good indication of where my career is headed. I still have lots of international cricket in me, but it depends on my body." But his body has obviously taken whatever he dished out very well, as he announces on Monday, "I'm feeling great". Heading into the Test, the Indian skipper seems his calm, confident self. But he was always that way. Even when he so famously did a Woodfull Down Under and said, "Only one team was playing in the spirit of the game". But Sydney and a dramatic Australian series is now already a memory, one that will probably be dug out when the Aussies come calling later this year. But it was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. "Looking back, it was quite challenging," said Kumble with typical understatement. "Cricket took a back seat for a while, till that wonderful win in Perth. But what was nice was how a lot of people complimented us on the way we played the game, with character, with guts. The result didn't quite reflect the way we played, but we fought back, showed fight and played as a team, a spirit I am sure we will carry into the SA series." It's been quite amazing how India have shaped up under Kumble, a man many believed would be a stopgap measure till Dhoni was handed over the reins of the Test captaincy too, more sooner than later. But Kumble's own strong persona, the tremendous respect he has from his peers for whatever he's achieved on the field, an unexpected ability to communicate his wants to his team, his innate understanding of the disparate, colourful personalities who make it up and an inherent gift in being able to keep a calm head when all around him are losing theirs, has probably made the captaincy his for as long as he wants it. He just smiles when asked how it feels to suddenly be dubbed the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket in the eventide of an illustrious career. The irony wasn't lost on him. "I've always done things the way I thought they should've been done, accepted whatever's come my way. I never went after the captaincy but when it did come, it was an honour. I've always believed that life should be taken as it comes, you need to plan and do the things you can as best as possible, not worry about things you cannot control." At the moment, he would be looking to control things against the Proteas, who, despite India having home advantage, will be incredibly tough to beat. "As a captain, I'm very proud that we competed so well against Australia. I think we have the potential to be the No 1 Test side. My vision is for India to be No 1 in all forms of the game, but the challenge for me is restricted to Test cricket. So I'd like to create a group that will try and achieve this and take the legacy of the last five-six years forward." The last few years have been largely happy for India in Tests, with rare wins in Australia, Pakistan, the Windies, South Africa and England. Kumble concurred. "We've competed well in terms of performances. But it's equally important to look ahead. It's vital in the next two-three years that we have the younger group come through. The five of us (Kumble, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman)… Laxman is the youngest and will perhaps be around longer, may be moving out in this time and it's essential that we have a plan in place to deal with that change." He looked somewhat thoughtful and added: "It's important to ensure that by the time we go, we have enough people with enough experience to take over. By then hopefully, the Dhonis and the Yuvrajs would have played 60-70 Tests. If you have five more like them ready, you have the foundation of a strong team. It's important that everybody knows what is expected of him long term." This is where a phased and planned rotation policy comes into play. "Bring in the players carefully, players you think have the potential to last the distance, invest in those you believe will form the future. Also choose the moments (to bring youngsters in), that is equally important." True. India have been blessed these past few years to have a bunch of immensely talented, extraordinary men come together to create a golden generation. Kumble, a visionary in many ways, is possibly leading this generation's last charge together. For Dhoni & Co, who will take up a precious legacy, it is a time to learn and take the best of the best. For the rest of us, these coming months will be spent in storing up some special, timeless memories.

[Zakhmi]

But Kumble's own strong persona, the tremendous respect he has from his peers for whatever he's achieved on the field, an unexpected ability to communicate his wants to his team, his innate understanding of the disparate, colourful personalities who make it up and an inherent gift in being able to keep a calm head when all around him are losing theirs, has probably made the captaincy his for as long as he wants it.

This is the piece of beauty of article writing.

This is where a phased and planned rotation policy comes into play. "Bring in the players carefully, players you think have the potential to last the distance, invest in those you believe will form the future. Also choose the moments (to bring youngsters in), that is equally important."

so true, I like his comments on rotation policy.

[saneindian]

BUMP In these dire times, we need a similar sort of planning and goal setting. Can MSD/BCCI/anyone associated with our cricket take it upon himself/themsleves to hel create a vision and work towards that?

[Cricket Tragic]

Great to read about what went into the success that we've had in the recent past.

[Trichromatic]

Great to read about what went into the success that we've had in the recent past.

In Adelaide test , Australia scored 400-5 on day 1 with Ponting on 176 (if my memory is good enough). Next day Ponting was involved in partnership with Gillespie and later and Australia was all out on 556. Kumble took 5 or 6 wickets. At that time I was thinking that this bowling is crap and Kumble got wicket because someone has to. Today while watching the match, I felt how wrong I was. No matter how bad things are going you need to try and fight till last ball. This is something current team has failed to show. This team would have mentally lost the match on day 1 itself.

[Cricket Tragic]

In Adelaide test , Australia scored 400-5 on day 1 with Ponting on 176 (if my memory is good enough). Next day Ponting was involved in partnership with Gillespie and later and Australia was all out on 556. Kumble took 5 or 6 wickets. At that time I was thinking that this bowling is crap and Kumble got wicket because someone has to. Today while watching the match, I felt how wrong I was. No matter how bad things are going you need to try and fight till last ball. This is something current team has failed to show. This team would have mentally lost the match on day 1 itself.

After day 1 of the 1st test, some genius in Australia put out the following newspaper headline... Indian summer over Australia were 260/2 and we bowled them out for 320 odd.

[Jayaram_IND]

In Adelaide test , Australia scored 400-5 on day 1 with Ponting on 176 (if my memory is good enough). Next day Ponting was involved in partnership with Gillespie and later and Australia was all out on 556. Kumble took 5 or 6 wickets. At that time I was thinking that this bowling is crap and Kumble got wicket because someone has to. Today while watching the match, I felt how wrong I was. No matter how bad things are going you need to try and fight till last ball. This is something current team has failed to show. This team would have mentally lost the match on day 1 itself.

Kumble was awsome in that series and he relished the bounce on those aussie wickets.

[CSK Fanatic]

He was our best standby captain, missing Jumbo.

[Jayaram_IND]

He was our best standby captain' date=' missing Jumbo.[/quote'] He is our all terrain bowler.If there is bounce he can really trouble the batsmen and even when he doesnt get assistance he keeps things tight at one end something which harbhajan must learn.

[diga]

Deja-vu...one of my friends reminded me about Kumbles similar vision during his captaincy stint and ICF has a thread on it. 

Edited July 4, 2016 by diga

[sourab10forever]

perfect bump...

 someone predicted the future 9 years ago

[Ankit_sharma03]

We all had our doubts over kumble and many had other options as well but it wont be wrong to say he has impressed all. The way he has started suggest to the fact that he came with brilliant homework compare to shastri who cudnt even make a presentation. Another reason i think is the passion he has for improving cricket in his country at every level which i bet someone like Moody, fleming, vettori, whatmore or any other Foreign coach wnt have done as they only would have cared about national team. 

Another thing i wud like to point out is how team is looking happy since he has taken over a team which had many players who liked shastri's company specially virat, rohit , ashwin n many among them. To come in an impress them in few days says a lot about his man-mangement. Kumble looks to have a plan for every man. Inviting India-A bowlers, Karnataka Ranji side and dhoni to camp was something gr8 to see and its never seen before. Kudos also to bring back the buddy programme which m sure would have helped him in his days . 

 

What gives me hope is his mindset who wants to win n improve and for that u need to take actions which he is quick to take a. He has also talked about bringing a fast bowling coach who m hoping is zaheer khan n it would do wonders.

Its gr8 to see recently retired cricketers like dravid and kumble working with team and i hope we get someone like them in selection committee as well. 

 

Edited July 5, 2016 by Ankit_sharma03

[sourab10forever]

51 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

nother thing i wud like to point out is how team is looking happy since he has taken over a team which had many players who liked shastri's company specially virat, rohit , ashwin n many among them

 

bang on....Even I was surprised.