Bangalore: A day after he announced his retirement from international cricket, Anil Kumble said Indian cricket will soon become a dominant force in world cricket under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
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Addressing the media at Kreeda, his Bangalore residence Monday morning, Kumble looked relaxed after bringing down the curtains on his 18-year-long glorious career at the Ferozshah Kotla in New Delhi, Sunday.
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"I have taken the decision at the right time. The Indian team is doing well and soon we will see them dominating world cricket under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is perfectly placed to take charge," the 38-year-old Kumble told reporters.
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The leg-spinner said he was proud of his leadership skills and did not think of continuing playing just because he was the captain of the team.
"I have enjoyed my stint as a captain because I always gave my 100 percent and I am proud of what I have achieved as a captain.
”People expect a person to do the same role again and again. But it does not happen even in Bollywood. When Amitabh Bachchan started his career he did different roles and now he does something different," he said.
He also refuted suggestions that he had been under pressure from the cricket establishment to quit.
"There was no talk of BCCI telling any player to retire. I don't think any player needs to be told about when to retire. It (the reported retirement plan) is all false," Kumble said.
"Nobody told me when to retire. Sourav (Ganguly) took his decision, I took mine, there was no pressure. Let's leave it to the individuals. Criticism is fine but don't do it without reason. Don't start questioning the players' ability. There is no retirement scheme, that's rubbish," he retorted when pressed on the issue.
Kumble's comments came in the wake of speculation that he was under pressure to announce his retirement and Ganguly, who is to retire at the end of the Nagpur Test this week, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had all been given a deadline by the Cricket Board to hang up their boots by the end of India-England series this year.
Asked to comment on Dilip Vengsarkar's comments that his time was up, Kumble said he prefers not to take such statements personally and instead thanked the former chief selector for giving him an opportunity to captain the Indian Test side.
"It is something which I don't take personally. That's his opinion. I don't know about it, some journalists came to me and told me about what he had said. I don't read newspapers so I don't know. But thanks to Dilip I got to be the captain of the team. I am thankful to all those who made it possible," he said.
On his future plans, Kumble said he is working towards opening an academy for budding cricketers.
"There are plans to start an academy, not immediately but in a couple of months. The groundwork has already started. I take interest in photography as well so may be I will try my hand at that," he said.
The retiring legend rated the tour Down Under earlier this year as toughest of his career as it required handling off-field issues that ranged from a race row to a bitter umpiring dispute.
"Every match is tough but the Aussie series was really tough. I had to handle a lot of things off the field. So it was hard and challenging," he said.
"So there were a few lows but that's part of the game. Its a tough day for me even today because my father passed away this very day five years ago," he added.
Kumble also insisted that he had made his retirement plans known to people who mattered.
"There is no communication gap. There are so many news channels now. There is so much media involvement that you guys want a constant dialogue. You can't have that because certain things have to remain within the set-up," Kumble said.
"I think you should respect that and respect the cricketers. Don't pass judgments on their careers," he added.
Kumble said the only pressure he had to deal with was the one to perform and that was common for all his team-mates.
"There is pressure to perform on all the players. As a team we need to achieve results. Unfortunately, people start focussing on individuals and forget that it's a team.
"And as long as we do well as a team, it will be great. One day, which is soon, we will dominate world cricket," he asserted.
Asked whether the captaincy came a bit too late for him, Kumble said, "Captaincy came at the right time. Whatever is not in my control I am not worried, whatever happens, happens for good."
"I have performed really well. I have taken a decision at the right time. I am at peace after taking this decision. I want to take some time off now, it will be nice for a change."
However, Kumble said he would miss the Indian dressing room.
"You do miss the dressing room. But I will see them achieve their goals," he said.
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