New Indian Test captain says he wants 100% from every player

Looking forward to building a team ethic - Kumble

Cricinfo staff

November 10, 2007

Anil Kumble: "I want that 100% from every player, that's it" © AFP

Anil Kumble, India's new Test captain, has said he expects 100% from his players during his tenure. When asked by the Kolkata-based Telegraph what type of captain he would be, Kumble replied, "One who ensures that his players are prepared in the best possible manner and one who allows them to play their natural game.

"I want that 100% from every player, that's it," the legspinner said. "Besides consistency, I'm looking forward to building a team ethic."

Kumble said he would draw from his experience while leading the side. "Having been around for 17 years, I know what's required to be done ... We've got to go forward and that can be achieved by being consistent," he said. "Personally, I'm at my best when I'm really intense and would like a high level of intensity from the team as well ... The Test series [against Pakistan] isn't far away and the matches are back-to-back, so there's little time to think too much."

Kumble's first Test as captain will come at the Feroz Shah Kotla, a happy hunting ground. "The Kotla has always been special," he said. "I scored a hundred at the U-19 level, then I made my India comeback [1992-93 tour of South Africa] after doing well in the Irani Trophy there.I've also got ten wickets in a Test innings [against Pakistan in 1999] . It really is a special ground and I'm happy that my debut as Test captain is going to be there."

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Gundappa Viswanath, the former India captain, who had backed Dhoni for the job, said Kumble should have got the position earlier. "I have been watching Anil for a long time and he is a shrewd thinker of the game," Viswanath told the Hindu. "This is an honour that could have been bestowed on him earlier. He deserves it and I always thought that he had it in him to lead the Indian side, but yes to be honest I never thought he would get the honour so late in his career."

Meanwhile, Aunshuman Gaekwad, the former India coach, criticised the selectors' move to name Kumble as captain only for the three Tests against Pakistan. "A stop-gap arrangement is made for a specific reason. But I see no reason in naming Anil for just three Tests," Gaekwad told Reuters. "They should have named him (Kumble) until the Australia tour at least. This move suggests they are not sure of what they are doing." That point of view was echoed by Kiran More, the former chief selector.

However, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Ajay Jadeja have hit out at the Indian board for the decision. "Are they not playing with the interest of the country," Sidhu, a former India batsman and now a commentator, asked. "When you appoint Kumble as captain of the team, it is nothing but a retrograde step. He is a stop-gap arrangement."

Jadeja, another former India player-turned commentator, felt the job should have gone to Dhoni. "How often do you have a successful captain and a successful team? We have one for the past two-three months," Jadeja told the television channel NDTV. "There has been no negativity coming out from the team and everyone seems to look at Dhoni as a leader. A senior player like Sachin Tendulkar accepts him as a leader and I don't think we should have changed anything at this moment. When you have a leader like Dhoni, is it not appropriate to turn to somebody like Anil?"

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