Sourav Ganguly considers Anil Kumble the most underrated Indian cricketer

What's the story?

Sourav Ganguly, one of India's most successful captains, has described his former teammate and leg-spinner Anil Kumble as the most underrated Indian cricketer. In a short interview to Hindustan Times, when asked who he thought the most underrated Indian cricketer was, Ganguly said, “Anil Kumble. I think he is the biggest match winner India have ever produced.”

In case you didn't know..

Ganguly and Kumble together played for India for more than a decade, starting with the late twentieth century and ending with the 2008 home Tests against Australia. When India were scheduled to tour Australia in 2003-04 for four Tests, the selectors had dropped Kumble but it was Ganguly who put his career at stake for the leggie's inclusion.

In fact, incidentally, while Kumble unexpectedly retired after the Delhi Test against Australia in 2008, Ganguly quit international cricket after the next game at Nagpur.

The heart of the matter

Ganguly elaborated on his point when he said, “We speak about a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virat Kohli or a Ravichandran Ashwin, but it is a fact that Kumble has won far more matches for India than anyone else.”

Also, this October, Rahul Dravid, who had succeeded Ganguly as India's captain, had himself said at the Bangalore Literature Festival that “Anil [Kumble] has been an absolute legend of the game, someone who has done more to win Test matches for India than anybody I know”.

What's next?

While Kumble found tremendous success as one of the leading spinners of his time, post-retirement, he has served as the President of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, coached India's national side and is currently the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee.

Author's Take

While Kumble had been a performer across the world – he had four, three and one five-fors in Australia, West Indies and South Africa respectively – India's best modern-day spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has failed to replicate his success outside Asia, save for in West Indies where pitches have recently become much slower and lower than during Kumble's days.

Also, while the performances of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid always gained a lot of accolades, Kumble's contributions often went unnoticed.