Gautam Gambhir picks Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni in his all-time Test XI; appoints Anil Kumble as captain
Gambhir heaped praise on former skipper Kumble
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Gautam Gambhir was full of praise for former Indian skipper Anil Kumble and attested that he would be ready to give his life to the latter for the sheer support the leg-spinner provided as captain. Gambhir further opined that Kumble would have had 900 Test wickets had DRS existed back in the day.
Gautam Gambhir, ever since retiring from cricket as a player, has found his way back into the game as a commentator and an expert analyst, aside from performing his duties as a Member of Parliament of the Indian Government. Often known for his no-nonsense style of punditry where he does not hold himself back from lashing out at players, on Saturday, however, the southpaw, interestingly, had words of praise for a former teammate of his.
Gambhir, who played six Test matches under the leadership of Anil Kumble, heaped praise on the former skipper and stated that he would go as far as giving his life for Kumble for the sheer support the leg-spinner provided to him, during his playing days. The 38-year-old further opined that Kumble, who captained India in 14 Tests between 2007 and 2008, would have held many more records had he captained the country for a longer period of time.
"Sehwag and I were having dinner when Kumble walked in and said that you guys will open throughout the series no matter what. Even if you get 8 ducks it doesn't matter. I have never heard such words from anyone in my career. So, if I have to give my life for someone, it would be Anil Kumble. Those words are still in my heart," Gambhir said Sports Tak, reported India Today.
Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble (captain), Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath.
"Had he captained India for a longer duration like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, he would have made many records. He captained in tough series' in Australia and Sri Lanka."
Having hung up his boots in 2008, Kumble left the sport before the dawn of DRS and Gambhir believes that the leggie, who ended his career with 619 Test wickets, could have ended up taking 900 wickets had DRS existed back in the day.
"With DRS technology Kumble would have ended up with 900 wickets and Harbhajan with 700 wickets. They missed lbw decisions on front-foot. Bhajju pa took 7 wickets in Cape Town, just imagine. If they would have played on rank-turners opposition would not have been able to make even 100 runs.”
Gambhir’s last Test under the leadership of Kumble came against Australia in 2008 and incidentally, the southpaw ended up scoring a double-century in that very match. The southpaw, furthermore, went on to name his all-time Test XI for India and unsurprisingly, the Delhite had Anil Kumble captaining the side.
