Lost under the giant shadow of Anil Kumble

Nearly Men

The talk in southern India cricketing circles at times is that had it not been for the legendary Anil Kumble's brilliance, Kerala leg-spinner KN Ananthapadmanabhan could have probably donned the India colours. Ananthapadmanabhan though refuses to buy that thought and believes it's nothing but ridiculous.

"I've heard a lot of people say to me but I find that thought completely ridiculous and stupid," Ananthapadmanabhan, now a respected umpire on the domestic circuit, tells DH. "Initially, of course, I felt disheartened that I could not play for India. But now I think that suggestion makes no sense at all.

"Maybe since I turned 50 last year, my perspective of life has changed. Kumble has over 950 international wickets and played over 125 Tests. In comparison, I played 105 first-class games and ended up with 344 sticks. There simply is no comparison between the two of us. Yes, our careers coincided but looking back I feel I wasn't as good as him. If I was anywhere close to him, I would have got a nod but I wasn't.

"I don't think I was ever in national consideration. When Kumble was injured they gave a chance to Sairaj Bahutule. In between, they even tried to bring back Siva (Laxman Sivaramakrishnan) but the plan failed. I was barely in national consideration. Even if I was, I never told about it. I was part of Board President's XI and Duleep Trophy sides but there also I was part of the 14 most of the times. Never in my life I felt I could get a national call-up," a candid Ananthapadmanabhan says.

Ananthapadmanabhan, born in Thiruvananthapuram, made his first-class debut in the 1988-89 season, a year before Kumble. In his debut season, he just bagged seven wickets and managed to bag 15 wickets in his sophomore. He upped the ante in the third season with 30 wickets but by then Kumble had already made a splendid debut and Ananthapadmanabhan, a conventional leggie, really needed to up the ante if he had to make a breakthrough.

The fact that Ananthapadmanabhan played for Kerala also didn't help his cause. While Kerala are really known for their footballing and athletics pedigree, they were miles behind heavyweights Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad in cricket. When asked if his chances could have been brighter had he played for a high profile State, Ananthapadnabhan begged to differ.

"There have been so many players from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad who were extremely talented but could never get their due. Raghuram Bhat was a brilliant left-arm spinner but he could only play 2 Tests. Hyderabad's Kanwaljit Singh and Tamil Nadu's Sunil Subramanian are two spinners who couldn't get the national call-up despite being talented and playing for big teams. So I feel playing for big teams doesn't matter," said Ananthapadmanabhan.

The Kerala cricketer, who has slammed three first-class centuries with a highest score of 200, said there's no regret in his life now and is quite happy at having played a major role in Kerala's rise as a cricket centre. "When I started playing, Kerala was nothing but a punching bag. But we beat powerhouse Karnataka for the first time in the 1996-97 season, a side that featured Sujith Somasunder, J Arun Kumar, Vijay Bharadwaj and Sunil Joshi. We repeated that feat again in 2000-01 season, this time a thumping 10-wicket win. Those are only two times Kerala has beaten Karnataka in Ranji Trophy.

"Only once has Kerala beaten Tamil Nadu, that was in the 1994-95 season. I was captain then and even during the second win over Karnataka. These moments triggered a cricket interest in Kerala and I'm proud to have been a part of it."