Melbourne, Jan 07: Anil Kumble, who played a significant role in India's 1-1 Test series draw against Australia, has been rated as the best slow bowler to tour down under in the last quarter century by spin guru Kerry O' Keefe. "It is one of the most cleverly orchestrated campaigns of leg-spin bowling in this country that I have ever seen," O' Keefe said on the Indian leg-spinner who was the most successful bowler in the four-Test series with 24 wickets.
Kumble's performance included three five-wicket hauls and came at a fine average of 29.58.
O' Keefe enjoys a unique reputation in Australia as an outstanding leg-spin coach whom Shane Warne speaks to a lot even though Terry Jenner is the spin wizard's official mentor.
He is a leg-spin coach with the Australian Cricket Academy. As a Test cricketer, he did not have much success though with only 53 wickets from 24 Tests.
"When Kumble arrived, he claimed he had worked out a plan. Nobody knew what it was. It's been inspirational, the long sustained spells and variation-based bowling," he said.
"Kumble has used that 101-102k slider, his two-three variations of googly which either opened the gate or had batsman hitting back catches," he said referring to Kumble's success on the batting tracks in Australia. Bureau Report