Anil Kumble was on Thursday named India’s new Test captain for the upcoming home series against Pakistan, putting to rest the intense speculation since the last couple of days on who will get the high-profile post. The national selectors deliberated at length before deciding to opt for the 37-year-old Kumble ahead of ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was widely tipped to get the reins of the Test team as well.
The announcement was made by the BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove just a few minutes before midnight and the Chairman of the Selection Committee Dilip Vengsarkar was not present to take queries from the media. A top BCCI source said that the experienced Kumble was preferred ahead of Dhoni because the selectors felt that Test captaincy would put a lot of pressure on the Jharkhand youngster, who also has the responsibility of keeping wickets.
The selectors were put in a dilemma after Sachin Tendulkar, who was tipped to be the captain of the Test team, turned down the offer two days back and suggested that a "youngster" be given the reins of the side. With Tendulkar out of the equation, the 26-year-old Dhoni had emerged as the front-runner for the job, which had been lying vacant for nearly seven weeks since Rahul Dravid stepped down from the post after a successful tour of England.
Kumble’s vast experience turned the scale in his favour and the bowler has some experience of the job having captained the Karnataka Ranji team. Kumble, a veteran of 118 Test and 271 One-day matches, recently expressed his willingness to shoulder the responsibility, saying it would be an honor for him. "I would certainly do the job if asked to. I do not know what the big deal is, why so much is being made of this. I have said this before also," Kumble had said.
The leg-spinner, who quit One-day cricket after this year’s World Cup, has played 118 Tests and scalped 566 wickets to emerge as India’s highest wicket-taker in the longer version of the game. He made his Test debut against England at Manchester in 1990 and has been a match-winner for India. He also equaled Jim Laker’s record of taking all 10 wickets in an innings when he achieved the feat against Pakistan in the Ferozeshah Kotla Test in 1999. Indiatimes.
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