Published: Jul 05, 2016, 05:17 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 05, 2016, 05:17 PM (IST)
In a question-answer session on Twitter on newly appointed Indian cricket team coach Anil Kumble revealed County Ground, Northampton as his favourite cricket ground in England. While most of his audience would have expected it to be one of the major Test venues, Kumble went for home ground of Northamptonshire, for whom he had an excellent stint in 1995. “I enjoyed my bowling at Northampton, the county ground. It was really wonderful for me in 1995, the entire season for not just Northampton but also for me. So I certainly loved bowling there. Recently I had a chat with Allan Lamb [Northants captain in 1995] as well on phone and it was wonderful to hear from Lamby.” READ: Anil Kumble’s little-known miracle for Northamptonshire
From 17 matches for Northants, Kumble claimed a whopping 105 wickets (over 6 wickets a match) at 20.40, leading the wickets chart on that English summer. On the County Ground at Northampton his 64 wickets came at an astonishing 16.09.
Kumble’s greatest performance on the ground came against Nottinghamshire in a bizarre match, when the tourists put up 527. Northamptonshire managed to declare on 781 for 7 before Kumble bowled unchanged from midday on the final day, finishing with 5 for 43 from 39.1 overs on a flat track as Nottinghamshire succumbed to an innings defeat. This came after his 4 for 117 in the first innings.
Meanwhile, Kumble was chosen ahead of Ravi Shastri and other applicants for the post of India’s head coach by a 3-member committee consisting of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. He will be on his first assignment with Team India as they tour West Indies for a Test series.
