For the sake of Indian cricket, Kumble must retire

He's had an outstanding career, but surely the writing is well and truly on the wall for him. Come on Anil, go with some dignity. You deserve to.

He can take his time .. 5-7 months and go with grace. There is no hurry.

Mishra has waited for 5-7 years to get into the team, what difference does a few months make.

i would give him an exit option. definitely dont play the next test. if we win then a farewell in nagpur

in case we dont then give him a farewell against the english

No. Don't give him any farewell. If he's good enough, then play him, but right now he clearly isn't, both as a bowler and a captain. Dhoni was almost embarrasingly better than Kumble as a captain in this test. This is test cricket, not a benefit match. Indian cricket must be put before any individual.

This is India's great chance to stuff the Aussies and stake a genuine claim to be the world's best cricket team. They should not be fools and stuff it up to please an individual.

meh. if they dont play him against the aussies (which they shouldnt unless we have won the series) its ok. but kumble does deserve a proper farewell, he has been one of indian cricket's greatest servants and the nation must show its gratitude, i cant imagine cricket without a certain amount of emotion. as long as its not risking a series result i would play him

Agree with Trevor.

Kumble was given so many chances this year for picking his farewell.

That he didn't, isn't anyone else's fault.

Come on Anil, go with some dignity

He didn't go out with dignity from ODI arena as well. And I don't think it'll be any different in tests as well.

Its plain to see why Mishra was roaming in wilderness for 5 years.

I think India should pick the best team available. The series is far from over.

India should go with the same team for the next test.

India should go with the same team for the next test.

Kumble's integrity is at test.

Henry wrote:No. Don't give him any farewell. If he's good enough, then play him, but right now he clearly isn't, both as a bowler and a captain. Dhoni was almost embarrasingly better than Kumble as a captain in this test. This is test cricket, not a benefit match. Indian cricket must be put before any individual.

This is India's great chance to stuff the Aussies and stake a genuine claim to be the world's best cricket team. They should not be fools and stuff it up to please an individual.

If Kumble is 100% fit, I think he'll get the best out of Kotla. He should just give up the captaincy to concentrate more on his bowling. I'm sure kumble is not the kind of person who'd hang around if he thinks that he has lost his zip.

regardless of Mishra's performance .. Kumble should play the next test.

We simply owe it to someone who has played so long for India.

Henry wrote:He's had an outstanding career, but surely the writing is well and truly on the wall for him. Come on Anil, go with some dignity. You deserve to.

Agree with that. But I can understand the dilemma the Indian selectors are in. Kumble has an excellent record in Delhi, which doesn't mean he'll be successful this time around too. On the other hand you just can't deselect a man who has just taken 7 wickets and won you a match. I don't know whether the Kotla pitch warrants the inclusion of 3 spinners. That can only happen at Laxman's expense and would be very un-india like. The best solution would be for Kumble to declare himself unfit. The interests of his country should definitely outweigh his own.

It wouldn't be charity in any way if Kumble plays the next test. The man is a demon in the Kotla, and has a very good record against the Aussies. His recent form has been miserable, but his track record is too good to be discarded at the first sign of a replacement. Mishra has had only one match.

What we owe him though is honesty. The players for India have atleast earned enough not for us to condescendingly give them charity matches. They're way way better than that, and don't deserve this.

SG wrote:Its plain to see why Mishra was roaming in wilderness for 5 years.

Because he was not ready back then and Kumble was doing really well everywhere.......

mishras time will come, if kumble has any sense he'll retire after the 4th test. dravid should call it too

The One wrote:meh. if they dont play him against the aussies (which they shouldnt unless we have won the series) its ok. but kumble does deserve a proper farewell, he has been one of indian cricket's greatest servants and the nation must show its gratitude, i cant imagine cricket without a certain amount of emotion. as long as its not risking a series result i would play him

Hoggard was also one of those redoubtable, selfless servants to England cricket and I don't recall much gratitude being shown to him. Rather uncerimoniously dropped after one poor match (where the batsmen farked it up) and that was it for his international career.

Top level sport cannot have any time or room for sentiment if you want to give yourself the best chance of winning. I'm not sure I like it that way, but that is how it is.

Kumble is a first class bloke and a real gentleman, but I do not see how his inclusion in the next test can be justified.

He may have a great record on the Kotla ground, but even without (or because of) his injury, he has been in dreadful form of late. It would be nothing more than an act of blind faith (and hope) to play him and just as importantly it would mean changing a winning team and possibly a winning captain. And what a manner of a win as well.

I hold a suspicion and hope that he will "find his shoulder not quite right yet" and declare himself unfit. If India go 2-0 up and a bowler gets injured or has a shocker then in he comes for the final test (if the team balance is right.)

India has the chance to beat the Aussies in a Test series (again) and stamp their claim to be a real candidate for the No.1 spot. If the Aussie dressing room is not too fractured they will be hitting back hard next test. It is not the time to carry a passenger.

Good post, ds.

Rather uncerimoniously dropped after one poor match (where the batsmen farked it up) and that was it for his international career.

Is Hoggard's career really finished then?

But Kumble wrote in his column that he was raring to go in the next test.

Kumble Column

It was very heartening to see MS lead from the front and it was fantastic to watch the way the team approached the game and the intensity we kept up throughout. And while I unfortunately had to sit this one out, I'm raring to get going at the Kotla, my favourite Test centre.

We have seen many debutatants to claim 5-for in their debut test, only for them to decline and disappear in oblivion. So we shouldn't be too excited for Mishra just now. We need to wait a bit more!

Chandan wrote:But Kumble wrote in his column that he was raring to go in the next test.

Kumble Column

It was very heartening to see MS lead from the front and it was fantastic to watch the way the team approached the game and the intensity we kept up throughout. And while I unfortunately had to sit this one out, I'm raring to get going at the Kotla, my favourite Test centre.

We have seen many debutatants to claim 5-for in their debut test, only for them to decline and disappear in oblivion. So we shouldn't be too excited for Mishra just now. We need to wait a bit more!

may be he should come back ONLY as a player.

Kumble is putting unnecessary pressure and creating uneasiness with everyone- Mishra, Dhoni, the selectors, and most especially, himself.

PlanetPakistan wrote:

Chandan wrote:But Kumble wrote in his column that he was raring to go in the next test.

Kumble Column

It was very heartening to see MS lead from the front and it was fantastic to watch the way the team approached the game and the intensity we kept up throughout. And while I unfortunately had to sit this one out, I'm raring to get going at the Kotla, my favourite Test centre.

We have seen many debutatants to claim 5-for in their debut test, only for them to decline and disappear in oblivion. So we shouldn't be too excited for Mishra just now. We need to wait a bit more!

may be he should come back ONLY as a player.

I thought it'd be the best option, at least for the country. But then Dhoni is also reminding people not to jump the gun about his captaincy!

He has said:

‘Early to judge me as skipper’

And I agree with him. I think India has quite a number of positives in knowing that we have a skipper who won't have a rough period while transition, captaincy wise and we also know that there is someone who can replace Kumble too. He might not take 600+ test wickets but will keep us afloat.

Henry wrote:Kumble is putting unnecessary pressure and creating uneasiness with everyone- Mishra, Dhoni, the selectors, and most especially, himself.

I knew that he won't retire with dignity. He didn't do that in ODIs. Then why will he retire from tests with dignity?

Looks like selectors need to be a bit more tough with him than they're.

Its tricky for everyone when a player is nearing the end of his career. The player, the team, the selectors.

Kumble obviously believes he still has it in him. Fair dos. Its the selectors' job to drop him if they think he's not good enough.

The player has 2 choices. If he wants to have a proper farewell, he has to quit when he is still sure shot to get selected in the team. If he wants to continue as long as possible, then he should be prepared to get dropped without making it a huge issue.