'My wife thought I was just joking': Anil Kumble recalls bowling with a broken jaw in West Indies

Anil Kumble heavily bandaged and bowling with a broken jaw in West Indies in 2002 is one of the most memorable moments from the legendary bowler’s career. In the fourth Test of India’s tour to the West Indies in 2002, Kumble was hit on the helmet while batting by a Mervyn Dillion delivery. Scans later suggested that Kumble had broken his jaw and needed surgery but instead of flying back to India, the leg-spinner returned to bowl for India despite the pain. He bowled 14 overs and took the wicket of Brian Lara as the match ended in a draw. Now Kumble has revealed his wife Chethana’s reaction to him bowling with the broken jaw in the match on Jio Cinema’s show Home of Heroes. Kumble shared that he informed Chethana about his injury on the phone and also added that he would return to bowl, which his wife refused to believe. “I told my wife, Chethana, and I called her up. When we spoke, I said, ‘Look I know I have to come home because I just need surgery.’ So, she arranged for all of that in Bangalore. And as I dropped off the call, I just told her that, ‘Look I’ll go and bowl,’ but she thought probably I was just joking. I don’t think she even took it seriously. ‘What’s he saying?’" “I was the only spinner in the playing XI. I didn’t play the last two Tests and here I was coming after an injury. So I knew I had to go out there and win the game. We had a chance as we got 600-odd (513) and you don’t get that many every time overseas,” he added. “I thought that if I was able to take a couple of wickets maybe I can put my team in a good position. I knew I was going to come home the next day.” Kumble also shared the difficult treatment that he had to go through after he injured his jaw. “The doctor literally kept my lower jaw together in one place with temporary wiring. I was on liquids and even (drinking) the liquids was not easy. And I mean, West Indies and vegetarian what do you get (laughs) so you try and make do whatever you have there,” he shared. The 2023 India tour of the West Indies starts on Wednesday with the first Test at Dominica.