Former Indian cricketer and head coach Anil Kumble turned a year older on Saturday and cricket fraternity came in unison to extend warm birthday greetings to him.
From former opening batsman Virender Sehwag to current Indian skipper Virat Kohli, all took to their official social media handles to wish Kumble on his 50th birthday.
Taking to Twitter, the 31-year-old Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper wrote,”Wish you a very happy birthday Anil Bhai @anilkumble1074. Have a great day.”
Sehwag, on the other hand, posted a picture of him with Kumble in Indian Test jerseys and congratulated his former teammate on completing his half-century.
“Officially I had 136 Intern’tnl wickets, but unofficially had one which was costliest,when I asked @anilkumble1074 bhai to not do tuktuk to offspinner & score his century quickly and he got out on 87. Sorry Anil Bhai, but congratulations on the half century today. Happy Birthday,” the former opener wrote.
Wishing Kumble on his special occasion, former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh lauded the former head coach for his priceless contribution towards the country’s cricket and towards nurturing the youngsters.
“To someone who motivated me when I needed to hear it the most – Happy Birthday jumbo @anilkumble1074 your contribution towards Indian cricket and more so towards nurturing the youngsters has been priceless. Sending you all my love and good wishes on your half century,” Yuvraj tweeted.
Kumble made his debut for the national side with a One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in April 1990. He went on to appear in a total of 271 matches for the country in the format and claim 337 wickets in it.
Regarded as one of the most decorated spinners of all time, Kumble has appeared in a total of 132 Tests for India and bagged 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.He is also the only second bowler in the history of Test cricket to clinch 10 scalps in an innings against arch-rivals Pakistan.
Besides this, Kumble has also appeared in 244 first-class matches and 380 List-A games and claimed 1,136 and 514 wickets in it, respectively.
Kumble was named as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team in June 2016 for a period of one year. However, he stepped down from the position following the 2017 Champions Trophy final due to differences with captain Kohli.
He is currently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and serving as the head coach and Director of Cricket Operations of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the ongoing 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
