Anil Kumble recollects the memory of his 2004 tour of Australia

Legendary Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble recollected the best memory of his career. It was after the first day of the second Test in Adelaide, which is now considered as the watershed moment in Indian cricket history. He vividly remembers how the game panned out and explained the scenario as the Aussies were on top with 400 runs on the board for the loss of 5 wickets.

Before the 2004 tour down under Kumble’s future was uncertain as selectors were about to drop him but it was former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who stuck to his decision to take Kumble to Australia with the touring party.

“I took a beating that day, conceded 100 runs for just a wicket (Justin Langer’s) and Australia were 400 for five. We had done so well to draw the first Test, and now they are running away with the second one,” he stated.

Bhajji’s injury gives him the chance

Relocating the memory of the Test series, Jumbo added, “I was fighting with Harbhajan for a spot and back home people were talking about my retirement.” He was even overlooked for the first Test in Brisbane where India did a great job to draw the match, but before the Adelaide Test Harbhajan Singh’s injury created an opportunity for leg-spinner and he was selected for the Adelaide Test.

Kumble knew this was his best opportunity to ensure his place in the team. Moreover, on a broader scale, he wanted to prove his worth in overseas conditions. “I decided to do something different, to bowl a different type of googly, which I had practised during my tennis ball days. I hadn’t quite perfected it, but now was an opportunity to try it out,” he narrated.

The leg-spinner used to bowl the googly before as well, but in Adelaide, he was tossing up the ball and drifting it in the air which was different to the ones that would skid onto the batsman. With this googly, he picked up the wicket of double centurion Ricky Ponting which prevented Australia from reaching 600 runs mark.

“I set an off-spinner’s field and kept bowling the googlies. In the end, I snared my first five-for in Australia, which gave me a lot of confidence, and we won the Test,” he said. In the next few years, the slower and tossed up delivery had become a vital weapon in Test cricket.

In the same Test, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Ajit Agarkar dazzled to make sure India got the advantage in the four-match series. In the Sydney Test, Kumble picked up 12 wickets and finished the tour 34 wickets. His success caught cricket experts by surprise as Australian pitches hardly offer any assistance to the spin bowlers.