Kumble to captain in Test series against Pakistan
Anil Kumble has been named as the captain for the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan, the first time India will have separate captains in Tests and ODIs. The national selectors took this decision at a late-night meeting in Mohali on Thursday, where they also decided to retain the same squad for the next two ODIs against Pakistan.
Kumble follows in the footsteps of Karnataka team-mate Rahul Dravid, who resigned from the captaincy for both Tests and ODIs in September. While appointing Dhoni - the captain of the successful Twenty20 team in South Africa - for the ODIs against Pakistan, the selectors had sounded out Sachin Tendulkar for the Test captaincy. However, Tendulkar’s refusal made Kumble the outsider in a two-horse race with Dhoni the favourite.
“It’s a great honour … it’s something every cricketer dreams of,” Kumble told a television channel soon after the decision was announced. “I thought I came pretty close to it when I was vice-captain … I played my game and contributed to the team.”
Kumble said he was looking forward to his leadership role in the Tests. “It is a high-pressure job but it’s a challenge, Pakistan is a tough tour. They are a good side, we’ve never managed to win a Test series [against Pakistan, since the 1979-80 series] in India… it’s a challenge.”
Asked if he was aiming at 600 Test wickets, Kumble replied, “The ambitions are now to achieve victories for the team.”
At 37, Kumble is the oldest member in India’s current Test line-up, and is a veteran of 118 Tests. His 566 Test wickets are the most after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. Kumble had served as vice-captain of the team before, but has led India in only one ODI against England in 2002.
He retired from ODIs following the World Cup earlier this year in the West Indies.
Meanwhile, the selectors’ decision to announce an unchanged squad for the next two ODIs means Rahul Dravid, who was dropped for the first two, doesn’t get a recall after his double-hundred against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvpak/content/current/story/318897.html