Feb 22, 1999

PAVILION END
My Bet Was Anil

By Anshuman Gaekwad

It's funny. Looking back on that historic fourth day, nothing seemed to go right initially. The team was confident and we had decided not to try anything extra to pick wickets. We knew the Pakistani batsmen enjoy playing their shots, so we thought let's just bowl line and length and let the pitch do everything for us. It was a game of patience.

But we didn't bowl to our plan and at lunch I had a chat with the bowlers individually as well as collectively. My emphasis was on Anil because he is a match winner under such conditions. He seemed slightly upset since we hadn't taken a wicket. We discussed our approach again and it worked. Anil with his variety of deliveries started putting pressure on the batsmen. At the other end Harbhajan, Srinath and Prasad were keeping it tight, for they had been told not to give away any runs. As we had decided at lunch, our aim was to try and finish the match on the fourth day itself. Possibly this put the urgency in the mind of the players.

I was watching Anil especially while addressing the team and could see the determination in his eyes. He is a bowler who plans a batsman out instead of waiting for the batsmen to get themselves out. Therefore he likes a longer spell of bowling. He also has an impressive repertoire, be it the leg-break, the googly, the top-spinner and most dangerous of all, the quicker delivery which he bowls with the help of his thumb. I tried to do it but it is impossible. His quicker delivery is in fact fascinating for he hardly gives batsmen any time to get their bat down. And he's a tough guy. In New Zealand while trying to bowl this delivery he chipped his nail yet he carried on a long, long spell that would have been any bowler's nightmare. I have never heard Anil complain about injury even when he has one. And whenever I ask, all he says is: "I'm fine, Anshubhai." He's the sort of player I would love to have in my team anytime.

Coincidentally, on that fourth day against Pakistan too I felt he had bowled too long. At lunch I told Azhar to give him a break but the captain sensibly carried on till Kumble destroyed the entire opposition. It's not easy getting even one wicket in international cricket. So getting 10 out of 10 requires tremendous nerves, determination, peak concentration and consistency. Batsmen possess similar qualities but to overcome that and succeed requires a special effort from the bowler.

Anil never needs to be told what he should do. He is sincere in his workouts and his mind is like a computer. He's also very meticulous. Once when his jump was not perfect and his front foot was not landing correctly, we both sat in the TV control van and watched the replays. He was very quick to correct his fault. The same is with Sachin. Whenever we discuss any minute defect he corrects it immediately. These qualities separate great players from good players.

When he took the last wicket it was a thrilling moment. For Kumble the enormity of his achievement had not sunk in. As he said, "It will probably get into my system tomorrow." When the team reached the hotel, the celebrations began. The president and secretary of the BCCI thoughtfully arranged champagne and chocolate cake, while hotel magnate Lalit Suri invited us to dinner. The next day the home minister called and Air-India/Indian Airlines even offered him two tickets for 10 trips abroad.

Later that evening I was thinking about the past and our great spinners Prasanna, Bedi, Chandrashekhar, Venkat and I thought Anil is very much a match winner like Chandra. That's their similarity. The difference is that Anil plans a lot while Chandra bowled on instinct.

(Anshuman Gaekwad, coach of the Indian cricket team, will be writing a weekly column
exclusively for India Today till the end of the 1999 World Cup.)

Anil Kumble: Spin Magic
Casting His Own Spell by Peter Roebuck

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