Steve Waugh was undoubtedly one of the finest batsman and captain of his era. Waugh’s side was a force to be reckoned with during the late 90s as they won almost everywhere. Steve Waugh called India the ‘final frontier’ and always liked the challenge of playing against them.
Recently, Waugh was all praises for an Indian bowler who he tagged as the ‘Rahul Dravid’ of bowling. The former Aussie skipper has lauded none other than Anil Kumble and rated him extremely highly. Waugh pointed out that Kumble was quite different from the rest of the spinners and his side always played him like a slow swing bowler.
Anil Kumble never gave you an inch- Steve Waugh
Waugh continued Kumble made full use of the spinning surfaces and was very difficult to play against. The former Aussie captain pointed out that Kumble was also a fierce competitor who never gave an inch to the opposition. He summed it up by saying he was equivalent to a Dravid of India’s bowling as he never bowled poorly and always remained consistent.
“I don’t think I played anyone who enjoyed playing for the country as much as he (Anil Kumble) did. It was everything to him. We certainly didn’t play him as a leg-spinner. We played him more like a slow in-swing bowler”, Waugh recalled in a video posted by cricket.com.au.
“He had a great change of pace. It was all about variations, use of the crease. He sort of mixed it up a bit. Anything in the wicket like a bit of rough or unevenness, and he was more than a handful”.
“He (Anil Kumble) was a fierce competitor. He was always at you and never gave you an inch. I can’t remember him bowling poorly against us. He was a bit like Dravid of their bowling line-up. The captain knew what they were going to get from him. He was there all the time”, Waugh said.
Meanwhile, Kumble is India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODI cricket. Kumble finished with 619 Test wickets and 337 wickets in ODI cricket. The legendary Indian spinner had a brilliant record against a strong Aussie side as he picked up 111 wickets from 20 Tests at an average of 21.33 and 10 five-wicket-hauls in Test matches.
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