Kumble to lead in longer version of the game …

After days of media speculation and hearsay, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble has won the two-horse race for the Test captaincy, edging out Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was billed as the popular favourite for the position.

India’s leading wicket taker will lead the country in the upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan at home. Kumble is India’s 30th Test captain. He is the third spinner to lead India after Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

MP Pandove, Joint Secretary, Board of Cricket Control in India, made the announcement on Thursday after the second one-day match between India and Pakistan at Mohali.

The selectors didn’t want to cast MS Dhoni in the inferno for the two arduous assignments against Pakistan and Australia. Ex-cricketers had also felt that Dhoni still has to grow as a Test-match player.

Kumble was deputy to Sachin Tendulkar and was overlooked many times for the position. India’s old warhorse had led the country in a one-day game against England in 2001-02.

“It’s a great honour, something which every cricketer dreams of. It’s a high pressure job, a challenge and I am looking forward to it,” Kumble told media. “I thought I was pretty close to it when I was the vice-captain. But I just played my game and contributed to the team. It (the captaincy) has happened very late but it is better late than never,” Kumble told reuters.

Even as the feeling was sinking in, Kumble said, “I have played with everyone in the present team. The respect is mutual and I am sure I will get a lot of support.”

Kumble, it may be recalled, led Karnataka in the Super League Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai this week. When asked whether he was prepared for the captaincy, he had remarked that he would do the job if asked to.

It took Kumble 17 years to get his first Test hundred. And now in the twilight of his career, he has earned the most elusive feather in this cap.