Harsha Bhogle speaks about Anil Kumble as coach in his new column

India’s most popular commentator and cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle has spoken about his views on the Indian cricket team’s new head coach Anil Kumble and test captain Virat Kohli in his recent column for The Indian Express.

Harsha Bhogle, who was controversially excluded from the commentary team for the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League had a lot of praise for Anil Kumble saying that his partnership with Virat Kohli could bring success to Indian Cricket. He describes Kumble’s personality to be visibly different to that of Virat Kohli’s but the two men, who are separated by generation are bound by intent.

In his column, Harsha speaks about a few incidents with Anil Kumble that show his bravery and commitment towards the Indian team. The first is Kumble’s partnership with ex-coach John Wright and the then young spinner Harbhajan Singh. He says that by sticking beside Harbhajan Singh, he helped the latter develop into a much better bowler. He also says that the same could be expected from Anil with the present crop of youngsters in the Indian cricket team.

Another incident that Harsha explained about was when India was touring West Indies in 2002. In the fourth test at Antigua, Anil Kumble was bowling with a broken jaw. When Kumble wasn’t bowling his spell, he was down fielding at long leg and the Indian team’s then Physio Andrew Leipus had to tighten the bandage around his jaw after each over.

Later that evening, when asked why he was bowling despite being in such a terrible situation, Kumble replied that he never gets the luxury of bowling overseas and thought India had a chance if he could pick up wickets. Harsha uses this tale to show that Anil never concedes.

The final incident that Harsha described was in Kumble’s last test series against Australia in 2008. It is said that Anil was in no condition to play test cricket in 2008 but carried on with potions and pills. By the third test in Delhi, the pain was beyond painkillers and the doctor was required to inject him with a local anaesthetic.

By using these incidents as an example, Harsha says that Anil has what it takes to inspire the young Indian team and his partnership with Kohli could take Indian cricket a long way.Presently, the Indian team has left to the West Indies to take them on in a four-match test series.