Dhaka, Dec 10: Anil Kumble may have emerged as the highest wicket-taker in Indian Test history but the ace leg spinner is not willing to rest on his laurels and has set his sights on joining the 500 club. Kumble agreed that he was hugely relieved to finally claim the 435th wicket that saw him go past Kapil Dev and now hoped to go for more in the coming matches. "It is definitely a kind of relief to get there, I am happy to have achieved it... I'm relieved but again people are saying 'get to 500', so I will have to put up with it. I just have to go out there and keep getting wickets.

"Spinners mature with age. Hopefully, there are a lot more wickets left in future," Kumble said after the match today. The Karnataka bowler had equalled Kapil's tally of 434 in the second Test against South Africa in Kolkata earlier this month, but had to wait till almost the close of play today to get the Indian record in his name. After Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan took seven wickets between them to rip through the Bangladesh batting, Kumble trapped Mohammad Rafique leg before in fading light for the historic wicket.

"I don't show too many emotions on the field. But I'm really happy with the way things have gone. When I first started, I never thought that I would get to this level," he said. Kumble said it was a great feeling to get past the record of a legend like Kapil, whom he had looked up to always. "I've played with Kapil paaji. My first three or four years were with him, so it's really nice to go past somebody you have looked up to from a young age. To be alongside him and then cross him, after having watched him on TV at one stage is really good."

The only second bowler in history to have claimed all 10 wickets in an innings, Kumble said he did not expect his critics to be quiet for long, nor was his job to silence them. "Critics are always there to say things when somewhere along the line you haven't been doing well. I think that's something which I don't really worry about. "If I thought too much of whatever people said, then I would not be here. My job is to go out there, play, give 100 per cent. The rest will take care of itself. I'm not there to prove anything to anybody.

"At this point of time, I think I have proved enough, and ultimately I need to go out there and prove to myself that I am still capable of achieving the results that I am capable of." Kumble, who has taken 66 wickets in the calendar year so far, said he did not see his performance after his shoulder operation in the year 2000 as different from those that preceded it. "I don't think I re-discovered anything. Most of it was always there. It's just that people started to recognise this when I began to do well once more." (Agencies) 

Published: Saturday, December 11, 2004 

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