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Anil Kumble is
India's Test Captain! |
Veteran
leg spinner Anil Kumble has been named as
India's new Test Skipper. Kumble will lead the
team for the upcoming 3-Test Match Series
against Pakistan.
Appointing someone who is already 37 and also
at the fag end of his international career as
the Captain is quite a surprising move from the
Selectors. But Anil Kumble at some point in his
illustrious career deserved an opportunity to
lead India and that has come now although late,
it's better than never. Kumble hasn't been new
to Captaincy, he has led his state side
Karnataka on several occasions at the first
class levels and had also got a rare honour of
captaining India in a One Dayer against England
at Chennai in 2002 because of the then Captain
Sourav Ganguly missing out because of an injury.
Kumble has been Vice-Captain of the Indian team
as well for sometime.
The Selectors had first approached Sachin
Tendulkar to take up the reigns in Test Matches
but after the little master had refused the
responsibility, the Selectors had to look at
someone else. Sourav Ganguly, India's most
successful Captain was the frontrunner for the
job along with MS Dhoni who has impressed one
and all his shrewd stint in the limited overs
version of the game. But there was a dark horse
in Anil Kumble, who was least expected to be
named as the man! Mahendra Singh Dhoni is
expected to be named as Kumble's Deputy.
With the job being entrusted to Kumble, it is
not sure how long he will be at the helm as one
doesn't seem to find many years of cricket left
in him. Infact he may hang his boots after the
completion of this ongoing season. Kumble,
however has been India's biggest match winner in
Test Cricket in its history and the Selectors
therefore might have thought that they had to
reward the great man with the top honour before
he retires from the game.
Squad retained for remaining One Dayers
The 15-man squad that was picked for the
first two One Dayers has been retained for the
remaining three ODIs as well. This means that
the Selectors have made former Captain Rahul
Dravid waiting to make a comeback in the One Day
team while Virender Sehwag has been given
another opportunity to get back amongst the
runs.
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