Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble are two of the biggest match-winners India have ever produced. Tendulkar is called the “God” of cricket, but the contribution of Kumbke is no less in Indian cricket. Known for his grit, Kumble won some matches on his own for the Indian team.
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Both Tendulkar and Kumble played together for almost a couple of decades. Kumble played his last international match against Australia in Delhi in 2008. Australia toured India for a 4-match Test series in 2008, and India won that series by 2-0. The 3rd test of the series was played in Delhi.
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Kumble finished his career with 616 Test wickets and 337 ODI wickets. He is the 4th highest wicket-taker in Test cricket after Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and James Anderson. The legacy of Kumble is special and even Tendulkar got emotional when he announced his retirement. Kumble and Tendulkar played in 122 Tests together, which is the 3rd highest by any Indian duo.
Sachin Tendulkar tried his best to convince Anil Kumble to delay his international retirement
In his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’, Sachin Tendulkar revealed that he was shocked when Kumble talked about his retirement to him. He said that even an 80% fit Kumble is enough for most of the batters, and the Indian team needed him. Tendulkar called Kumble the biggest match-winner of the Indian team.
Tendulkar even said that he almost convinced Kumble to delay his international retirement, but his finger injury ruined the plans. Kumble was coming on the back of a shoulder injury, and the finger injury required 11 more stitches. Kumble was carried on the shoulder by all the players on the last day of the match.
“I was very surprised when he said he was thinking of retiring. He felt he was not bowling close to his best and was not able to give 100 percent to the team. My argument was simple. Even 80 percent of Anil Kumble was good enough for most batsmen and India still needed him,” Sachin Tendulkar said about the prospect of Anil Kumble’s retirement.
“I almost managed to persuade him to carry on but an injury to his spinning finger on the third day of the Test was the final straw.”
The Delhi Test ended in a draw, and it was dominated by the batters. Kumble could only bowl in the 1st innings of the match where he took three wickets.
