Why Anil Kumble deserves his Test hundred

A man who's taken more Test wickets than any other Indian and who once took all ten in an innings (against Pakistan no less) shouldn't have too many targets remaining in cricket, but a Test hundred was doubtless one of them for Anil Kumble.

Four fifties in his previous 150 innings didn't really hint at imminent fulfillment, but if you've scored over 2,000 Test runs, you've just got to take the 'getting out' part out of the equation.

So he did. Anil Kumble batted as well as he can - which is really rather well - and India's innings ended with him standing at the other end with 110 runs to his name.

He should be the biggest name in the Indian team, but Anil Kumble's probably not all that arsed about being so crazily popular that crowds of people gather to chant his name when he goes out to buy underpants. He's probably not mad-keen on advertising motorbikes with his bare chest exposed underneath a leather jacket. And rightly so.

So being as he doesn't want the public to reward him for his bowling endeavours by being crazy, obsessive and a little bit frightening, he'll have to be rewarded in some other way. What better way than with an unexpected Test hundred. He deserves it.

England v India, third Test at The Oval, day two
India 664 all out (Anil Kumble 110 not out, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 92, Dinesh Karthik 91, Sachin Tendulkar 82, Rahul Dravid 55, VVS Laxman 51, James Anderson 4-182)
England 24-1