Legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble captained India in only 14 Test matches but his leadership skill has been appreciated by many and some of them have also termed him as the best captain of their lives.
It was RP Singh praising the former India captain a few days ago and now Gautam Gambhir has got added to the list.
Talking in an interview with Sports Tak, Gautam Gambhir said that Anil Kumble was the best captain he played under and he wouldn’t have hesitated to give his life for him.
Giving reasons for his big comment, Gambhir said that the type of assurance he got from Kumble was incomparable. Gambhir recalled an incident when Kumble walked into him and Virender Sehwag before the start of a 4-match Test series against Australia in 2008 and assured them of their spot in the team.
“Sehwag and I were having dinner when Kumble walked in and said that you guys will open throughout the series no matter what. Even if you get 8 ducks it doesn’t matter. I have never heard such words from anyone in my career. So, if I have to give my life for someone, it would be Anil Kumble. Those words are still in my heart,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir, who smashed a double hundred in that series, credited Kumble’s belief in him for his success.
Gautam Gambhir also believes that had Kumble captained India for a longer duration he would have made many captaincy records.
“Had he captained India for a longer duration like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, he would have made many records. He captained in tough series’ in Australia and Sri Lanka.”
Gautam Gambhir, who played 58 Test matches for India, said Anil Kumble is one role model youngsters should look up to.
The former Delhi batsman Gambhir also opined that in the presence of Decision Review System (DRS) technology Anil Kumble would have ended his Test career with 900 wickets.
The cricketer-turned-politician also had words of praises for veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh by saying he along with Anil Kumble are the greatest spinners produced by India.
“With DRS technology Kumble would have ended up with 900 wickets and Harbhajan with 700 wickets. They missed lbw decisions on front-foot. Bhajju pa took 7 wickets in Cape Town, just imagine. If they would have played on rank-turners opposition would not have been able to make even 100 runs,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir also named his all-time Test XI for India. He named MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, both in the squad.
Gambhir’s all-time Test XI for India- Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble (captain), Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath.