Bengaluru: The last week must has been a blur at the Kumble household. Having retired from the game some eight years ago, cricket must have taken a backseat in many respects: even given his involvement in the IPL, firstly as a player and then as a mentor, even given his two-year administration stint at the KSCA, even given his shorter stint as commentator. For all that Kumble had turned the family man; with a day job and back home for the night and not necessarily living out of a suitcase.
Not anymore. Not definitely for a year. And given his penchant for success and pursuit of excellence, maybe not for three years. Following an illustrious 18-year career that took him away from family but fetched tremendous success in the form of 619 Test wickets and 337 ODI scalps, Kumble since 2008 has cut down on his commitments and spent valuable time at home, making up on what he missed out during his children’s formative years.
A contented father of three, Kumble knew his heart beat faster on the turf than anywhere else: no offence to his family here. With the Indian cricket board anointing him head coach, the Kumble household will go back to being what it was during his playing days. Seeing him sparingly. Luckily for them, a majority of the Tests over the next year is at home. A man who has always answered his calling be it as a cricketer with limited ability (to turn the ball, as he himself has said) but with limitless ambition to brave the odds, be it as a captain who marshalled his resources and kept the team unified in what was a watershed moment in Indian cricket during the infamous ‘Monkeygate’ scandal that threatened to split the sport at its epicentre in Australia in 2008, be it as a mentor, who guided the youngsters in the slam-bang stuff that makes cricket heady and keeps it spinning in the money — the IPL.
The 45-year-old Kumble’s passion for cricket is remarkable for his eye to detail. It reflects in his ‘other passion’ — photography and his collection over the years are stunning as he reveals them on social media’s Throwback Thursdays and Motivation Mondays. For someone, who made his debut way back in 1990 as a bespectacled bowler to metamorphose into an amiable coach in tune with the game and in touch with the modern world given his proclivity on social networks, Kumble will be an inspiring figure for the young Indian team. Yet, he will not be the distant, intimidating personality that some coaches tend to transform themselves into.
Given his awe-inspiring deeds and a grit to grind the opposition to dust, it’s understandable that the youngsters will be nervy approaching him but they can rest easy, for he’s been there and done that. He’s gone through the rigmarole. “I have kids who are teenagers, who are beyond teenage. So I understand the pressures of being a parent and also the current generation. In terms of cricket, I’m sure I’m close to the game, the modern game,” said Kumble refreshingly.
“And I’m sure I can blend my experiences in putting across to youngster(s) of today. I think I can do that. I think the communication that needs to be given to a youngster today, I think I can do that.” This is not to say the coaches of the past weren’t up to it, on the contrary all of them — from John Wright the workhorse, Greg Chappell the dominator, Gary Kirsten the backroom machinist, Duncan Fletcher the impenetrable to Ravi Shastri the firebrand talker, Indian cricket has traversed a momentous journey over the last 16 years since Kapil Dev, the last Indian to head the full-time job, was removed from the post.
Pressure of the job comes with the territory but if anything Kumble will wade into it eyes open and ears perked up. And as always, he puts the game before self. “It could be someone else tomorrow. I’m not permanent in this role. I have an opportunity to make a difference. “I have an opportunity to be part of the journey and if I can be part of the journey where we see Indian cricket rise to where we all want it to be, then I think its wonderful,” Kumble said.
