Bangalore: Perhaps the Jumbo (Anil Kumble) of Indian cricket wants to carry forward from where he left in 2006 in the Caribbean islands. In Virat Kohli, the newly-appointed India coach has a skipper who can match his aggression, shot-for-shot, in the four Test matches to be played in the West Indies in July-August.
“I love Virat’s aggression. I was aggressive myself. I will not curb someone’s natural instinct,” Kumble said at a media gathering at the end of the preparatory camp that concluded in Bangalore on Monday. The team members exuded confidence before leaving for the tour.
Exuding confidence, Test captain Kohli looked in perfect shape and sounded upbeat with having Kumble at the helm. “It was great to have Anil bhai with us. His experience counts a lot for us and the bowlers were feeling his presence very much,” Kohli said ahead of the departure.
It will be an acid test for the youngsters in the Indian side, as for many this would be the first tour to the islands and adapting to the conditions quickly will play a crucial factor. The head coach knows this better than anybody else in the ranks. It may be recalled that the former India captain bowled with a broken jaw more than a decade ago (2002) in St John’s, Antigua.
One who remembers the heroics of the 45-year-old can vouch for the entire life to have witnessed someone sending down 14 successive overs with the broken jaw and earned praise from who’s and who of the fraternity. “It was one of the bravest things I’ve seen on the field of play,” legendary Viv Richards was later quoted as saying by Cricinfo.
By the way, India will look to cash in on Kumble’s experience and Kohli’s aggression to sail through and shed the tag of ‘poor travellers’.”The bowlers will have someone to fall back on,” admitted the flamboyant, mercurial India Test captain.
(Edited by Aditya Chaturvedi & Twinkle Mehta)