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The Indian spinner par excellence Anil Kumble has finally hanged his boots after playing for the country for 18 long years. At the end of the recently concluded third test match against Australia at Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi Kumble announced this news to the world.

With this, a great era comes to an end and India loses one of its finest cricketers. With the exit of Kumble from the scene, the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra would finally come of age and come out of the looming shadow of the Jumbo.

Kumble, sometimes affectionately called the Gentle Giant, was India’s man for all seasons. An exemplary team man, the Spin King always kept the interests of his team and country above everything. The memories of a heavily bandaged Kumble who came forward to bowl against West Indies are still fresh in the mind. Even at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, in the third test against Australia, he took to bowling though his little finger was badly injured and wrapped in bandage.

They say the highly competitive Jumbo always gave his best whenever he stepped on the field to play for India. One of the greatest match winners of India, Kumble was next to none when it came to winning matches for the country. The third highest wicket taker in the tests in the world with a rich haul of 619 wickets, Kumble was only behind Muralitharan (756) and Warne (708).

Perhaps, Kumble was the hardest working cricketer of India. Had not age caught up with him and recurring injuries not weakened his body--even if not spirit--the Spin King, in all likelihood, would have continued to play for the country for, say, for another two years.

Though not as gifted as his illustrious contemporaries Warne and Muralitharan, Kumble was more fighting and persistent than them. He seldom allowed batsmen to run away with a game. When he could not turn the ball the way he wanted to do and get the batsmen out, he foxed them with his guile and tact and took their wickets.

Jumbo has many world records to his credits. He is one of the few bowlers in the history of world cricket to take 5 or more wickets 35 times. He is also one of the few bowlers to take 10 or more wickets in a test 8 times. More importantly, he is the only second bowler in the history of world cricket to take 10 wickets in a single innings. The Spin Wizard from Bangalore is also one of the full time bowlers (perhaps the only spinner) to make a century.

When Kumble appeared on the scene of cricket in 1990 he had many idols to take inspiration from. Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, and Venkatraraghavana were the four great Indian spinners who inspired the spinner much. But Kumble--by his consistent world class performances--left them behind to emerge the greatest Indian spinner of all times.

His record as a test captain may not be something to write about (he won only 3 tests out of the 10 tests that he captained). Still, one can not refute that he was one of the most standout performers that the game of cricket has seen over the years. No wonder, when he recently announced his decision to bid adieu to the game at Kotla, the world was stunned though it knew it was coming.

It would have been great if he had performed well against Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Cricket Trophy 2008 and then signed off in style. It would have been an icing on the cake for this great cricket. Unfortunately, he could pocket only three wickets in the series though he did well with the bat and frustrated the Kangaroos more often than not.

But that’s how the life is. It plays spoilsport sometimes. It did not spare even the greatest batsman of all times, Don Bradman who failed to sign off on a high note. Just for record, the legendary Australian batsman was out for a duck in the last innings of his illustrious career. Anil Kumble can take some solace from this. Adieu Jumbo!