Anil Kumble Was Never Sledged By Australians And Here's The Reason

India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08 hogged the limelight due to several controversies. But skipper Anil Kumble had a rather unique experience during the tour

Test cricket in Australia can never be interesting without a pinch of sledging from the hosts. Probably, the Aussies attack verbally to let their opponents feel (and fear) their presence. The history is evident how the Indians have also been prone to that heat. However, there is one cricketer who mostly remained away from the banters. Back in 2007-08, India’s tour of Australia hogged the limelight due to several controversies. The Australians left no stone unturned in pushing the visitors to the edge, be it physically or mentally. But skipper Anil Kumble had a rather unique experience during the tour. The spin legend said that he was never sledged by the Australians as he was great friends with Shane Warne. “No, I don’t remember much. What I’ve heard is ‘if you are a friend of Shane Warne, you never get sledged’. I was a friend of Shane Warne, so I didn’t get sledged,” Kumble told Kings XI Punjab in an interview. Kumble admitted that he loved bowling against Australia as they were the best team in international cricket and this was his biggest challenge. “I think as a bowler you’d want to bowl against everyone. It’s a challenge (bowling against each team). But bowling against Australia (I loved the most), because at that time they were the best side international cricket. You would want to showcase what you can do and what you can achieve against the best in the business and that something I took up as a challenge and that’s wonderful to have many battles against the Aussies,” Kumble said. “And fortunately for me, I never had to worry about bowling at a Tendulkar, against a Sehwag, or Laxman or Ganguly. So, I didn’t have to worry too much before a match saying ‘O God, I have to bowl at these guys. Fortunately, I had them on my team,” he further added.