Regarding Kumble being the most handsome cricketer, well, in my experience I have found that it (handsome) is relative. An aunt of mine is extremely in love with Kumble and so I had generalized this and thought that that’s how most of the female gender felt about him. But then when there was a G.D (Group Discussion) during my Management entrance preparation stint, I remember quoting that “Kumble is the most handsome cricketer” and getting back dirty stares. Nobody in the group thought that he was ‘handsome’. And in the group I was the only guy! :D LOL!

So let me not get into that discussion. You feel he is handsome. I am happy for you :)

Bellur rk:
Thanks for your comment. Didn’t know that you still loitered around this blog also… LOL

I read that article. Shocking! Whether it is true or not we might never know. But assuming it is true, even my respect for him has increased after reading this. Hats off to Kumble!

Did you read the Mail Today article which is both horrifying, and explains why Kumble did what he did.

According to Mail Today, curator Radhey Shyam Sharma of the Ferozeshah Kotla says the pitch was deliberately made lifeless to force Kumble into premature retirement, at the instance of ‘powerful members of the Indian cricket board’!

“I made a perfect wicket which would have suited our spinners, especially Kumble,” he said, “There were a few cracks in the wicket and those were necessary to force a result.”

According to him, a top functionary in the pitch committee “..filled the cracks with soil despite my protests. This also ensured that India was not able to seal the series against Australia here at Kotla.”

Mail Today is a Delhi newspaper, a joint venture of the Daily Mirror and India Today “” not some scurrilous rag.

For the full story, go here “” http://www.mailtoday.in/3112008/epaperhome.aspx. Or just log on to http://www.mailtoday.in

In the light of this, my respect for Anil Kumble goes up even more. He created no fuss, did not lash out at his detractors, but just quit, quietly and immediately. He knows the Kotla wicket intimately, and must have figured out by the third day what had happened. Can you imagine how he must have felt?

Clearly a man of true class. Which is more than I can say for the people behind this nspeakable deed. While this is speculation on the paper’s part, it mentions ‘a powerful lobby in Indian cricket that favours Mahendra Singh Dhoni..’, and later refers to ‘a powerful southern Indian cricket lobby (!!!)..led by a powerful BCCI office bearer.”

How do these people get away with such things? And hats off to Kumble for showing immense grace in such sordid circumstances. God bless him!