A road named after Kumble at Kumble
Thousands of cricket fans and citizens honoured former Indian test captain Anil Kumble in a befitting manner. They renamed a road after him at his hometown Kumble in Kasargod district.
The reception was hosted by the Kumble Gram Panchayat in Kumble town on Sunday. Anil Kumble’s paternal grandfather hailed from Kumble. “My grandparents were the last generation in my family to stay in Kumble. I visit the town every year to offer prayers to my family deity at Sri Lakshminarayana Temple here,” Kumble said, acknowledging the reception.
“There is no state border in cricket. It is not a question of whether I belong to Kerala or Karnataka. I belong to India first,” Kumble said and added that he wants to see more cricketers from Kumble scale greater heights in the future.
The Badiyadka Telephone Exchange Road in Kumble town was renamed as ‘Anil Kumble Road’ and it was inaugurated by Kumble himself. The town wore a festive look on the occasion as Anil Kumble was taken out in a procession from the new ‘Anil Kumble Road’.
A stretch of 450-metre long road (Kumble-Badiadka route) was developed and fitted with interlock tiles. The Gram Panchayat will soon convert the entire stretch in the same manner soon. The Panchayat had decided to rename the road after Kumble through a resolution in November 2008 and had initially planned to hold this reception on November 21 last year. However, communal disturbance in nearby Kasargod forced them to drop the function.
Kumble presented a copy of his book “Wide Angle” to the Kumble Gram Panchayat. Kasargod MP P Karunakaran inaugurated the felicitation programme.
DH News Service
