The sun was glaring throughout the day, the focus firmly on the Indian faster bowlers, but Kumble surely hogged the limelight. And the crowd, witness to their own champion leg-spinner (with that same thumbs-up sign of acknowledgment like Kumble’s today), gave just the same appreciation.

So did Adam Gilchrist, who we often heard chanting ‘bowling, Shaanne’ and walk up for a handshake after every dismissal. Gilchrist, the non-striker then, shook Kumble’s hand and congratulated him and later in the dressing room too.

“I remember, Gilly was in Bangladesh when he called me to say ‘hi, this is Adam speaking from Bangladesh, congratulations on your 500. Gilchrist is a genuine guy and I just joked with him today that I preferred him as my 600th victim,” Kumble laughed.

In the Indian dressing room everybody gave a standing ovation. Harbhajan Singh took a huge bow. Kumble was firmly with Harbhajan in his hour of crisis, and the off-spinner was only too excited to be part of Kumble’s celebration.

It’s rather strange that the man, who brought such remorse to Kumble and the country, now stands as the basic source of happiness for every Indian. Kumble will never forget Andrew Symonds.

Like a letter detailing from his debut in 1990 Manchester to Perth 2008, the man scribbles a little post-script. “Taking wickets is all about creating doubts in the batsman’s mind. At the end of the day you needn’t bother about how you do it. You can spin the ball, bowl straight, swing it, bounce it... as long as you create doubts, you’ll be fine... Right through my career there have been a lot of criticisms but these critics are important to egg you on,” he says.

... contd.