I wish I could bowl like Warnie: Kumble

I wish I could bowl like Warnie: Kumble


Bengaluru: Other than cricketing genius, Anil Kumble and Shane Warne share another trait. Both like to raise the stakes at crunch time. They bowl better when they are under pressure.

Two wildly different personalities, their hunger for excellence makes them fall in the same bracket of legends. From time to time Anil Kumble may have been beaten, but he has never been broken. The same may be said about Warne, this maverick seems to have take all controversies it in his stride and used them as fuel to perform better.

For the Indian, neither the distractions of glamour nor the rigours of age have distracted him from his task while the genius from Down Under seems to have extended his legacy beyond the boundaries of cricket stadiums and countries alike.

On the sidelines of the launch of Anil Kumble’s book of photographs - Wide Angle - the spin duo spoke about each other’s attributes and art.

“I have always said this. I wish I could bowl like him, spin the ball like him,” Kumble said of Warne.

“Whenever we played against each other, I would watch every ball he bowled - the way he would set up a batsman. More than watching him bowl the leg break, the googly or whatever variations, I could sense that he was trying to set up a batsman. Later when I watched him on television playing against other teams, I would know what he would bowl next,” Kumble added.

Warne returned the praise highlighting that Anil Kumble’s standout feature was his heart.

“Anil Kumble has a lot of skill. A lot of people have said that you can’t bowl leg spin like that. What he has shown over 20 years is that there are different ways to skin a cat,” Warne said.

“100 percent commitment, 100 percent of the time - that’s not something you can teach people, that comes from the heart,” he said of his former colleague.

“When you play cricket over a long period of tim,e it’s not just your skill that matters, it’s your passion, your love of the game, your courage and commitment. There’s not too many times when you walk off the field when your arms are not sore or your back, fingers and knees aren’t hurting. But you pick yourself up when you get into a contest,” Warne said of Kumble’s longevity in cricket.

“What Anil has achieved and what he has delivered to his fans has been fantastic. Playing against Anil, I have found him to be a thorough gentleman, a humble guy,” said Warne.

“He was told that he cannot spin the ball. They said he cannot bowl leg spin. But he has shown over 20 years what he can do by doing it.

“For all the youngsters and many more, Anil is the role model, the way he conducts himself on and off the field. It is not just talent, but passion and love for the game that has seen Anil play the game for 20 years and that proves he has a big heart,” added Warne.