'It's really good to be back' - Kumble

One of VVS Laxman's biggest regrets is that he was left out of the team that played the 2003 World Cup. In that tournament, Anil Kumble only played three matches - against Netherlands, and then the crucial games against Pakistan and Australia, while Harbhajan Singh was picked over him regularly. With the one-day team suffering a lengthy slump, having most recently been knocked out of the Champions Trophy, it was thought that the selectors might just go back to the two veterans for the tour of South Africa. They picked Kumble, but Laxman continues to be overlooked for the shorter version of the game.

Soon after hearing the news of his selection Kumble spoke exclusively to Cricinfo. The last time Kumble played a one-day international, it wasn't even for India - it was for the Asia XI against an African XI in the Afro-Asia Cup in South Africa, in August 2005. But Kumble did not believe that a year out of ODIs was going to hamper him as he returned. "I don't think having been out of the team is going to be a problem," he said. "Having played for 16 years I don't think it's going to make any difference. The only thing is that it might take a little time to settle in, but I don't think that should be a problem."

Since Kumble made his ODI debut, way back in 1990, the game has changed dramatically. Then, 230-250 was a score that was defended more often than not. Now, in just the last year, teams have made 400 on four occasions. With PowerPlays coming into existence, different captains have been using spinners at different times; some early on, some only at the death.

When you ask him if he was just a touch worried about bowling in the PowerPlays, Kumble almost finds it funny. "In my 16 years I've bowled all my spells starting inside 15 overs," he said. "I don't think it's going to make any difference whether I have to bowl in the beginning of the innings, in the powerplays or at the death."

Another thing that has changed over time is Kumble's standing as a spinner. Although he has grown into being one of the giants of the game as far as spinners go - and by far the most successful bowler of any kind for India in Tests - he has often had to sit out of the limited overs matches, with Harbhajan Singh being preferred. And, to top it all, in the last year, Harbhajan has bowled so well that Kumble would certainly be viewed as the second spinner.

Was this a problem? "I've probably been the second spinner in the one-dayers for a while now, otherwise I would have played in the last World Cup, and even in the period leading up to that," he said. "I don't need to look at it that way. There's no first spinner or second spinner. The most important thing is that I'm a bowler, and if I'm one of the four bowlers picked on the day then I have to do a job. In one day cricket it's not really as though there's a first spinner and a second spinner, with different roles. I don't consider myself that way. Obviously Bhajji will be the first choice because he has been playing as the main spinner for a bit now and he has been bowling well."

Laxman has been quite vocal, on more than one occasion, about being left out of the one-day team, and that's only understandable, given how poorly some of his replacements have performed. But Kumble - a man of few words at the best of times when it comes to proving critics wrong and answering detractors - was stoic when asked about the time he spent out of the one-day side. "It's all in the past, being out of the side and all that," he said. "I've played enough cricket to understand what the game means to me in the context of other things in my life. I can only say that it's really good to be back."

Over the last two months, with the World Cup coming up, the focus has increasingly been on building a team for the tournament, and on identifying the personnel who can do the job in the Caribbean. In that sense, could Kumble's selection for the South Africa tour just be paving his way into the side for the World Cup? "There will definitely be one eye on the World Cup," he says, "if nothing because it's now in eyeshot. The one-dayers in South Africa are the focus, I'm sure, in preparation to the World Cup. The team must be looking at any one-dayers between now and the World Cup in that way. If I do really well, then definitely I stand a chance."

Another big reason why Kumble's inclusion in the team must be seen as a boost is because he has experience in playing for Indian teams that have faced defeat. For a long time, both in the early part of his career, and intermittently at other times, Kumble has had to shoulder plenty of responsibility as the team was struggling to win. "I'm sure my experience of bowling in different teams - ones that have been winning and ones that have been losing - will help," he said. "I have had experiences like this before, where the team has been going through a slump, so maybe I'll be able to contribute and we can get back into our winning way."

And one thing Kumble will definitely have to do now - apart from taking wickets and chipping in with runs, as fielding has been one of the reasons cited for keeping the 36-year-old out of the one-day team - is play his role as a senior, mentoring and guiding those with less experience. "I've always played that role, whether it is in one-day cricket or in Test cricket," he said. "So it's not something new, or something I'm going to be doing just now."

For many, Kumble's exclusion from the one-day side was a sacrilege. It's one think to play different combinations, but if you had to just pick the four or five best bowlers in the country and put them on the park, you can't overlook Kumble. And this time, the Dilip Vengsarkar-led selection committee, hasn't.