Kumble hints at quitting cricket

By Our Correspondent

Bengaluru

Oct. 8: When Anil Kumble walks into the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium for the toss on Thursday morning, the photographer in him will try and probably capture each frame for posterity.

For, it will be the last time he would be donning whites in front of his home crowd, who adore him. With age being no more on his side and no Test match scheduled for the Garden City for another year or so, it will be Kumble’s swansong at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Much like it will be for Sourav Ganguly.

Though Kumble hasn’t exactly put a date on retirement, at 38, his days on the cricket field are drawing to a close.

"It certainly would be my last Test match in Bengaluru because I don’t know when the next match is. I don’t want to look that far ahead. As I have always said, I take it one series at a time so this would be my last Bengaluru Test match," said Kumble matter-of-factly on Wednesday.

Few would have thought the smiling assassin would emerge as one of the world’s best bowlers when he made his debut in 1990 against England. But with his grit and determination, he has proved his critics wrong and has gone on to lead the team in his unmistakable style.

Jumbo, who favours this venue, has scalped 41 wickets in eight Tests here and will surely be aiming to sign off on a high note.

Unlike Ganguly, however, he is not looking at this as his last series. "I will let you know when my last series is. I am not someone who would like to announce before, I would like to take things as they come. Let’s stop talking about this for now," he said.

But before he announces retirement, Kumble would like to fulfill one of his mother’s dreams — of claiming a hat-trick. What better place to achieve it than the ground where he learnt the tricks of the trade, and that too against the all-conquering Australians?