India head coach Anil Kumble (left) interacts with groundstaff yesterday at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where the second Test versus Australia begins tomorrow. Pic/AFP
There are two theories as to why Anil Kumble got the nickname Jumbo. One is that Navjot Singh Sidhu named him since many of Kumble’s deliveries rose sharply like an angry elephant’s trunk. But it was also rumoured that he earned his nickname as he had an elephantine memory and remembered how he snared each of his victims.
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The second part was very much in view when Kumble, now simply called ‘Coach’, was asked about his preference when it came to pitches.
While addressing the media at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore yesterday, Kumble was asked if there was a particular kind of pitch that he absolutely loathed during his playing days.
All-weather customer
“There’s nothing like that,” he retorted. “People wrote a lot about my bowling with regard to the pitch. But as a bowler or as captain or as coach, it never bothered me. There was a lot of talk during my playing career that he can (only) bowl on one particular (type of) pitch. That didn’t really bother me then, nor does it bother me now,” he added.
A little earlier, when asked about the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, a venue he grew up in, Kumble was in an altogether different mood. “I don’t know much about the Chinnaswamy wicket to be frank,” he started, the grin giving it away. He then dwelled on the surface a little more. “Yes, I have grown up playing on this ground. It’s generally been a good batting surface and yeah I’m sure it’ll be a result wicket. That’s exactly what we want in a Test match… you want results,” said Kumble.
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After all, it’s only 22 yards
But when questions about this pitch and tracks in general were thrown at him one after the other, his mood again changed. “Can we move on? It’s only 22 yards, it won’t be different here,” he said, pleading for some other subject to be taken up.
It wasn’t to be and he was again asked whether Pune has shown that the Indian team don’t do that well on turners.
“No I don’t think so (not doing well on turners). These kind of questions were never asked in the last nine Test matches when I addressed the press. So I don’t see a reason for me to answer the question at this point in time, because of one failure. I don’t think that’s something we need to worry about. Like I said, we didn’t adapt well and we lost in Pune. We need to adapt really well on this surface, these conditions and play well as a group,” said Kumble.
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