Jumbo - A True Legend

Guess it was around four' o clock in the evening.  After a post meal slumber , i woke up with half the right eye open and its counterpart still trying to come with terms to the bright light. It was a nice sunday afternoon and also the fifth and final day of the cricket match between india and australia.  Since a draw was looming large i decided to check the scores late in the evening.

When i switched on the TV and tuned into neo cricket, a scroller at the bottom of the screen caught my eye immed'ly. It read "Anil Kumble has announced that he would retire after this match..".  That very second it stuck me as a real obscurity. I started to think if the senior players have really started succumbing to the pressure from the board and the stupid media, one by one. Were they indeed, what ravi shastri says, "falling like a pack of cards" ?

But after listening to jumbo, later in the post match conference  where he  said "It was a difficult decision indeed and its definitely not due to any external pressure but it was all within" i realised that i was wrong. How true. Jumbo is indeed a man of his words.  He wanted to give his hundred percent always and when he realised the fact that he was not at is best he decided to hang up his boots.    

To be frank am not a true fan of jumbo but then have been amazed quite a lot with his bowling abilities,commitment, persevearance and gentelemanly conduct.  He  might not be a wizard like shane warne but still was a proven match winner. How one can one forget his winning partnership with srinath against australia , the ten wicket haul at kotlah, "skull covered" bowling performance against the windies , where he got lara (also had hopper caught of a no ball i guess) , century against England , leading india to a test victory in perth after the controversial Sidney test... the list goes on and on.. Even in his last match , the catch that he took (despite the injured left hand), running back, of his own bowling, speaks volumes about his commitment. After the catch, he threw the ball back to the stumps probably wanting to make a statement that "Am still not done with..beware guys". 

Sure that his performance had begun to wane, especially in the recently concluded series against srilanka as well as the ongoing test series against oz. Batsmen started reading him better besides  age, injury woes and the lost charm.  He was no more the jumbo we all knew, who came thrusting in, hit the rough and bamboozled many a greats in the world of cricket. He himself realised that. "I did not want to let the team down and also stand in the way of a young player. I certainly was not able to give my 100% to the team."  True words from the champ. 

At the end of the match, it was glad to see jumbo being given a great send off. One of those moments that stood apart from the rest was mahi carrying dhoni on his shoulders.  Quite fitting was'nt it ?  Dhoni indeed is ready to carry the burden on his shoulders and take over the mantle from jumbo. But then the whole of india will sorely miss jumbo.  Pretty sure he has secured a place in the hearts of millions of cricket crazy souls.  A true legend indeed ! Hats off, for one last time, jumbo.