All good things come to an end....a tribute!!

This is a tribute to the best bowler that Indian cricket had. Today on the last day of the third test with Australia, at the Kotla, Anil Kumble decided to walk into the sunset. Purely going by statistics he is by far the best Indian bowler till date. At the outset itself I want to make one thing clear- I am no great fan of Anil Kumble the bowler. I am a bit traditional when it comes to cricket, and he was the antithesis of it. His bowling wasn't great to look at, he was a leg spinner who didn't spin the bowl!! But one thing that he wasn't was inconsistent, he ends with more than 600 wickets!! And he was a true fighter, always giving more than 100% for the country. It's ironic that the two images that I will always remember of him are when he overcame physical pain to get out there and perform for the country. One was in the West Indies, in spite of being hit while batting, he came out to bowl with a broken jaw, and the second was in his last test. He hurt his left hand while fielding, and required 11 stitches on it, but he came out the next day and bowled his heart out, and took wickets too. It's a sad truth that in spite of such achievements he never got his due. He was always criticized as I read some where, for what he didn't do rather than for what he did for the team.
I would be honest and put my hand up to confess that I have been among his distractor's too. But as I heard the news of his retirement from my Dad, who was watching the match while I was taking my lunch, I was shocked. I knew that his retirement was around the corner, but didn't expect it coming quite so soon, and hardly in this way. The news was out even while the Indian batsmen were out there trying to take the game out of the reach of the Australians. In all the years I have been watching cricket, never have I seen such a strange way of announcing retirement. I will miss him bowling in a test match for sure. I was all teary eyed as I read various articles being written about him and his decision to retire.
As he retires, we are face to face with the end of an era. Three more players are set to retire in the not too distant future,while one has already announced his retirement. For people like me who have grown up watching Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble, it feels strange to think of a time in the very near future that an Indian test team will turn out without any of them. I have only one wish and one hope as we stand here. The wish is that we had won more matches with the strong team that we had, and the hope is that Indian cricket is ready with it's replacements for these legends. Failing the latter, the huge fan following that cricket enjoys in India will suffer- I have already had one friend telling me that he will stop watching cricket from the day Sachin Tendulkar retires!!
At the end I will only say- Mr Anil Kumble, thanks for helping the country win so many matches, and best of luck for whatever you do in your future....have a good life!!