Anil Kumble always gave 100 per cent in every game and his success increased these last couple of years. But his first-class commitment is what I will remember most of him.

You could rarely leave balls from Kumble. He was a fierce competitor and never wanted to offer you any cheap runs. If he did happen to bowl a bad ball and gave you cheap runs he would always be very angry with himself. Shane Warne was the same in that respect even though they were very different bowlers. 

But one similarity is that when Shane Warne left the Australia team, there was nobody to take his place. It is the same with India. No matter how talented some youngsters may be, Kumble cannot be replaced. He’s a true man of the game.

He was also a good gully fielder and someone who loved his batting as well. But it is that 100 per cent commitment non-stop that I remember most when I think of Anil Kumble.

Off the field, he has always been a nice guy. I met him for the first time in 2000 when I was in Sharjah for a one-day series. All the teams (India, Pakistan and South Africa) were staying at the Holiday International, where they were having a lunch time function to celebrate Anil’s ‘Perfect 10’ from the year before (when he claimed 10-74 against Pakistan in Delhi).

It was my first year in the Pakistan team and he was already a legend by then but he still found it in his heart to personally invite me to this function. He told me to bring any family or friends along if they were with me. I was very surprised by his generosity because he was a big man and I wasn’t. I was amazed actually that he should request my company. He was a real gentleman.  

I am currently playing for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield and I am enjoying my time here very much, but I will go into more detail about this another time. I just wanted to offer my congratulations to Anil on a great career for India.