Even before Kumble get down to his work on green pastures as a leader, I want to stick my neck out and say that this must be hailed as one of the most important decisions of our time. Even if its for few days, considering the attention span of our decision makers and how general politics and cricket in India are one and the same this one decision has a quality which is not just a throwback on the charmed world of the chivalrous, but a much yearned prospect of playing by the rules and hard.
A trailblazing career had been unfortunately ignored and unrewarded for historical and political reasons. Kumble played with an intensity and integrity unmatched at the highest level and so long that his persona for the fans is that of an unrelenting warrior in the pitched heat of many an epic battles. His calm demeanor is hardly a facade for rivals to see through the fierce competitor who is always on the offensive, mentally and physically. So much so that the reluctant and pugnacious
Australian not only eulogized Kumble's asendancy, more importantly he is relishing the prospect of the spirit of the game being brought back with the help of Ponting and Mahela in Test arena. He hopes to see that these personalities will reinvent the game on the ground which has been compromised considerably by the parasitic ICC and its cohorts.
I guess everyone will hope to see the game manned with mindfulness than mindlessness in days to come. After all, reducing a game to mere win and loss have had its consequences. A cricket crazy nation like us must reinvent the game for our own sake. It must grow out of cheap shekels and bollywood sleaze to find its destiny. I remember watching "
Fields of Dreams" and thought how churlishly sentimental it was and how alien baseball was to me. However when I applied the context to cricket, it was easy to see how Indians connect socially and personally between parents, siblings, neighbors, in the office and strangers on commute trains and buses - it became all clear to me.
I hope the fearless generals will rise to the occasion for Kumble, the thoughful commander and warrior.
