A tribute to good-goody boy of Indian cricket

He isn't the prettiest batsman in the town, he has never been one whom the team can look upon for rescue act with the bat, he isn't prolific and free-flowing, he has never tamed any opposition's bowling, but there can be very few centuries more popular than his. It took 17 years and 118 test matches for Kumble to reach the promised land. But when he did it, he did it in style.

He has always been a gritty fighter, the fiercest of competitors no matter how unfavorable the conditions were. Kumble has been the quintessential team man, the architect of far more Indian victories than the glory boys in the middle order. It's a known fact that he has won more matches for India than any of the batting stalwarts in the team. Though, often, his efforts have gone unnoticed among the highly famed Indian batting performances. But he never let that fact affect him and has always been a team man giving his full fight everytime he stepped into the ground. Kumble's prodigious capacity to bear pain was proved in Antigua in 2002 when he bandaged his fractured jaw to deliver a stirring spell for team's interests.

Never termed a classical leg-spinner (primarily because he is not a huge turner of the ball) in the real sense of the word, Anil has proved in his 15 long years in international cricket, that his style was equally effective. With a clever mix of top-spinners, googlies, leg-breaks, flight and a variation of pace, he has outwitted many a batsman.

He had many records to his name: most wickets for an Indian in test cricket, in one day cricket, one of the only two bowlers to take all ten wickets in a test match and now he has one more to add - his maiden test hundred which had been so long in coming.

And that's just like another pearl in Jumbo's crown.