Anil Kumble (Right arm leg spin)

Even as the shadows started to lengthen at the Kotla today evening, Anil Kumble - for the 10th time in his career - opened the bowling for India, and in his second over, sent down a leg break that pitched outside Hayden's off stump and TURNED so much that Dhoni had to jump to his right to collect it behind the stumps! That, i guess, was the most poetic way for the world's second most successful leggie ever to hang his boots and bid adieu to his game... he had actually learnt the art of turning the ball!!
Turn or no turn, what I expected would be one of the most boring post-tea sessions in the history of Ind-Aus cricket turned out to be one of the most emotional, as the flash news suddenly said "Anil Kumble decides to retire from cricket after this match"... Even as Divya had moist eyes and started recollecting stories of how she had loved the bespectacled spinner over the years and his Hero cup heroics of yore, I was just soaking in as much of the man as I could.
The retirement speeches that these guys make - and all the associated festivities - are what take cricket closest to films... the lines that these guys manage to effortlessly belt out seem to easily outdo all those well rehearsed lines with meticulous rerecording to back!
The only common factor is that these things make me cry.
Whether it be the emotional climaxes of recent films where I've started liberally 'dehydrating', or retirement speeches - i remember Gilly's recently - I have somehow lost the art of keeping my emotions in check. And cry, I did, for the most part of the presentation ceremony, where these buggers refuse to understand what I'm going through, and keep going on and on saying things like "modern day greats", "one of the giants of the game" and all that jazz. Aargh!
End of the day, I must be one among millions around the world wishing Kumble well and thanking him for the fantastic entertainment over the years, but I shall still specifically thank him for spurring me on to get off and write a blog entry :)
An alarming afterthought also is that I do remember the time this guy started his career! And watching his farewell only told me that while he went about collecting all those millions in prize money and all those wickets and awards along the way, what the hell have I been doing? Sitting on my ass and growing a paunch?
Someday, at least some 10 people have to watch me on TV say something like "Its been a long journey... I thank my family and my friends...." :-)
LOL, that can wait.