Anil Kumble’s 17th-year captaincy jump a mixture of disciple and discipline

In a country, where stars are made every generation, Kumble belonged to the one-rare Indian generation, where the influx of talent was never-ending. It was the very same generation, which gave India three of the biggest batting stars in the world - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly while the fourth one, VVS Laxman, too was not far behind. 

Hailing from the same state, the leggie’s influence on the team was a never-ending one, on the field and off the field. While he has been called as a taskmaster, disciplinarian and so on and so forth from his time as a coach, during his playing days, he was more than all of that. His nickname, ‘Jumbo,’ justifies all the things that he has done for the Indian team - his tall stature was just an indicator. 

Aura

The aura that Jumbo brought to the Indian dressing room was not one of mystery but one of intent, one that was going to help the Indian team in the longer-run. His leadership phase in the dressing room came at a juncture where the Indian team were moving on from his statesman’s captaincy. The period was also very transitional to Indian cricket before they moved on to MS Dhoni’s youthful reign. Interestingly or not, his captaincy also came in at a time when none of the other senior stars was ready for a jump. 

"Rahul Dravid had just given up the captaincy and at that time probably it was too early for MS Dhoni to step in as a Test captain and Sachin (Tendulkar) also did not want it, so they looked around and said, "Ok Anil is the only guy and let's give it to him," Kumble said.

That was really him in a nut-shell, a guy who was ready for all the challenges, be it waking up on a tough pitch for spinners in Australia to taking over the Indian reigns without raising a single question. While it can be pertinent to assume that none of the senior stars wanted the job as they eventually guessed it to be heading towards the young Dhoni. 

Statistically speaking, Kumble’s reign is really not comparable to any of the others on the modern-day list of Sourav Ganguly - Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar. He took over the reins in the series against Pakistan, India’s arch-rivals albeit it being at home. The task of taking over such a star-studded team that has giant-like names in it must be really a task indeed. However, his calm-stature ensured that the team stayed together, more than ever during the brief period of his leadership. 

More than his first series, the second one was what caught the eye and the attention of the critique. On top of that, any Indian fan will surely give you an idea of how close India were to a series victory against Australia away from home. It surely was the one place that they lacked, however, they put it past them right from the beginning. The team looked more sure of what they were planning to do and everything was starting to look seamlessly fit in. While Australia got off to a resounding start in the first two Tests, the Indian team marched their way to an unlikely comeback Down Under. 

On a personal level, in the second Test, Kumble nearly got himself a hat-trick but the man was never just defined for the number-games. It was after the Test at WACA, a place where Australia have always found immense success - thanks to its assistance for pacers. India, with a team that was tilted partially towards the spin department, winning at WACA was always a telling statement to the opposition. More than all of that, Kumble’s men got the roofs burning down - Australia’s win record. While the leggie’s spells were nothing extraordinary or exquisite, the way he handled young men, including RP Singh and Ishant Sharma, was mind-boggling. 

However, it was in the fourth Test, where really the roof came hurling down. The infamous Sydney Test, home to one of the biggest controversies between the two countries - Monkeygate. While the incidents in the Test were widely known, Kumble’s statements in the aftermath - one of intent and only intent. 

Intent and Compassion

The more you talk about his captaincy, the less - the value of some of the ordinary words become extraordinary. Several players in the recent past, including RP Singh and Gautam Gambhir, have come out and warranted top-marks for Kumble’s captaincy. While one was an opening bowler, the other was an opening batsman, which talks about how despite being a bowler himself, gave equal importance to all in the team. 

While he was right about Kumble’s support to a bowler, his words of wisdom or words of support were enough to convince Gautam Gambhir to take the jump. Rightly so, Gambhir’s best days coincided with Kumble’s captaincy and the anecdote that he shared was enough to warrant a place in the top for a captain-material in the country. His endless support to the southpaw was enough to leave the left-hander loved and that really set him and his batting form apart. 

To sum up Kumble's captaincy tenure in one line - it is the concoction of perfection, support and results all combined in one. While the numbers did not really favour the case, it was never really about the numbers but more about the way he handled one of the least talked about phases in Indian cricket - in terms of redevelopment.