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If you ask a cricket fan the name of the leading test wicket taker in the world then he or she would immediately answer that Shane Warne is the current leading wicket taker in test cricket. May be you will also be informed that Muttiah Muralitharan is going to break the record. However, many cricket fans do not even know who the third highest wicket taker in test cricket is. Yes, it is Anil Kumble, the man who has been doing his job silently for India. Kumble is unlucky that he is in an era of Inidan cricket when batmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid took away all the media spot.

It is true that Anil Kumble achieved most of his 566 test wickets at home and he could not show so much consistency abroad. However, just because of this, you can not question his greatness. I think, you know that Anil Kumble is a wrist spinner and you can not find so many wrist spinners to become successful in their career. Wrist spin is one of the toughest bowling known in the cricket world. However, Anil Kumble has achieved a lot in his career. Recently, Anil Kumble has been named captain of India’s test team ahead of the series against arch rival Pakistan at the home soil.

No doubt, getting captaincy at the age of 37 is a rare incident in the cricket world. However, Anil Kumble has got the job for the upcoming India vs Pakistan test series. Anil Kumble has already retired from ODI cricket after India’s humiliating performance in the world cup this year. Since then, Kumble has been playing test cricket only. Kumble himself has admitted that it has been late to get this honor.

NDTV reported:

"I had to wait for a long time. But I think it's better late than never. I am looking forward to the challenge," the veteran leg-spinner told reporters in Bangalore in Thursday on being handed the Test captaincy for the Pakistan series.
"It's good to be shown faith and given the responsibility. I am sure I will get all the support from all my team-mates."

Actually, Sachin Tendulkar was initially proposed for the test captaincy for the third stint. However, he turned it down and advised to give it to someone younger. Then, it was expected that ODI and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was going to get the job. After some discussion among themselves, selectors decided to give the job to an experienced one and no doubt, they selected Anil Kumble for the job.

 
Telegraph reported:

"I guess it has come at a stage when the next guy takes over and I have to make sure there is a smooth transition," Kumble said. "It has come at the fag end of my career. But it has given me additional motivation to carry on and perform."

Dhoni, 26, who led a young team to success in the Twenty20 World Cup, is widely acknowledged as the next generation leader.

Anil Kumble has some unique achievements in his illustrious career that one can only dream of. Anil Kumble is the only second bowlers in the history of test cricket who could take 10 wickets in a test innings. In a test match against Pakistan in 1999, Anil Kumble took all of the 10 wickets of Pakistan’s second innings leading India to win the test and level the series. After English spinner Jim Laker, Anil Kumble is the second person who has this distinction in his career. What is interesting is that Anil Kumble got his historic 10 wickets at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla stadium where he will play his first match as captain against Pakistan.

 
Recently, Anil Kumble got his maiden test century in the recent test series against England. Scoring 110 not out at his 118th Test and 151st innings, Anil Kumble took the highest number of tests to get his first test century. Actually, both his test century and test captaincy have come to him surprisingly. Even he could not think off getting a century in test cricket and test captaincy at the age of 37. His ODI record is also alluring. Kimble got 337 wickets appearing in 271 ODI matches for India. Anil Kumble led India in an ODI match against England in 2002 which Indian by 4 wickets.

 
With a down to earth personality, this leg spinner is always a respected person both on and off the field. From the umpires to opposition players, almost everybody knows him a solid gentleman. I have never seen him appealing unnecessarily to the umpires or getting involved in any sledging or any verbal clash with any opposition player. After being named India’s 30^th Test Captain, he did not forget to send his thanks to his relatives and teammates. Anil Kumble thinks that he will get the support of his teammates. Moreover, he wants to get out of the best from the players.

 
The Hindu reported:

“For me it is a simple matter of telling the players what their roles are and what they are expected to do.”

Kumble also made it evident that he will be his own man. “I know captaincy in India is a high-pressure job.

“Your moves are dissected and there will be criticism but I will not get affected by all that. At the end of the day, I will back my players. I will take decisions which I feel are the right ones at that time. I will decide on the basis of my cricketing acumen and will also discuss with the others. I will do what is best for the team,” Kumble said.

Some of the former greats like Ian Chappell, Kiron More, Kumble’s former team mate Javagal Srinath have been full of praise for Anil Kumble. They all think that Anil Kumble deserves to get such honor as he has given his every effort and tribute to cricket.

Ian Chappell says about Anil Kumble in Cricinfo:

Kumble is everything a team wants in a captain. He is a man of action and few words, and his deeds are inspirational. To understand Kumble and the respect he has earned, you only had to see his Test century, at The Oval. Every run was crafted with thought and effort and the boundary that brought his century was a triumph for the way it adjusted to a tricky situation.

Javagal Srinath says on Anil Kumble in Rediff:

Anil is a master of his own art that is unique and far from orthodox leg-spin bowling. On hitting a rough patch in his career he got more criticism than help from the famous Indian spin fraternity. He confessed that the only man who could have been of help was B.S Chandrashekar had he not been confined to a wheel chair.

 
Anil Kumble has a good reputation of selflessness as a player who always gives his best for the team. To name a few, in a tour to West Indies, Kumble got seriously hurt in his jaw while batting. However, thinking of the team, he came to bowl with his broken jaw. However, it is also true that there are few who think it should have been better to give the captaincy to Dhoni. According to them, Dhoni will serve India for a long time and that is why, he needs to boost his experience from now on.

 
Indiatimes reported:

It always takes sometime to build a team and put together a winning combination. Will Kumble stay that long? South Africa offered captaincy to Graeme Smith and Pakistan to Shoaib Malik and it was done to achieve long-term goals. Then why are Indian selectors reluctant to give Dhoni complete reins of the team for Test cricket as well or a youngster suggested by Tendulkar? If they are apprehensive of the team's success in the Test outings under Dhoni then similar apprehensions surround Kumble too. After all a captain is as good as his team.

As a cricketer Anil Kumble has got almost everything in his career. He was one of the cricketers of Wisden’s Cricketer of the year 1996. Indian government has honored him with Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award of India. Now, he got the test captaincy of India. It is hard to predict anything regarding his success as a captain but what is obvious is that Anil Kumble has a lot to teach the youngsters that they will carry through in their career.

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