“If Anil Kumble had got the captaincy earlier in his career, he would have been one of India’s best captains,” Irfan Pathan tells rediff.com in the third part of the interview.
“He is a naturally born leader. He got the captaincy very late in his career. If he had got the captaincy earlier in his career, he would have been one of India’s best captains because his mind was very clear. He had this amazing calmness about him. When he bowled, he was a different character, but when he led the side he was totally different. He was very calm. He is a knowledgeable cricketer, he was good as captain for both batsmen and bowlers as well” said Irfan.
“His leadership was superb as well, when to bring in someone to bowl, when to give someone a break, because he was aware of the different kinds of situation. He had been on many tours of Australia before that so that really helped him handle the whole situation during the Monkeygate controversy and also lead the team in the matches after that” he added further.
“If you keep at something again and again, then you evolve, you get better at it. When he was young, I always believed that he was a very shrewd captain in terms of his out of the box thinking and getting the work done. He believed in his spinners lot more than anyone else. He had unique style field settings as well because he was the wicket-keeper. And being the wicket-keeper he was very aware of what the batsman was thinking. When you are standing close to the batsman you are aware of his activity as well. mAnd since the World T20 win, his confidence just kept getting better and better as the leader. There is no one close to him in terms of what he has achieved as captain” said Irfan on what has impressed him most about Dhoni.
