Ashish Nehra's career for India spanned nearly two decades, in which he rubbed shoulders with the batsmen of highest class, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman & co, and also got the opportunity to play alongside bowlers of supreme quality in Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh among others.
Having had a good look at his colleagues, Nehra, who played 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 27 T20Is for India before retiring in 2017, went about picking "India's biggest match-winner" with the ball.
Speaking on Star Sports' 'Cricket Connected' show, the former left-arm pacer said for him that bowler is none other than the great Anil Kumble, a champion leg-spinner, integral to some of India's finest wins at home and away.
"First time I saw him was on television only when Anil Kumble was playing for India,” Nehra said. "He had those huge glasses, but as you keep on playing your face, mannerisms and style keeps changing every 5-6 years. But I would definitely agree that with the ball, he was India’s biggest match-winner."
Kumble remains India's highest Test wicket-taker, with 619 scalps from 132 Tests in an illustrious career where he went unfazed of all the initial outside talks around his inability to turn the ball and showed constant improvement, proving that he could be a force outside the Indian subcontinent as well.
Australian pacer Brett Lee, who was involved in many encounters against India also featuring Kumble, remembers first seeing the great man on TV.
When Kumble made his Test debut for India on that 1990 trip to England as a 19-year-old wearing spectacles, Lee feels, he resembled a "university student", who had just arrived to play international cricket after studies.
"When he first started playing cricket, a bit like [Daniel] Vettori with the glasses on, a bit like a university student with the look with the glasses,” Lee said.
"He looked a bit shy and timid but 619 wickets later, 130-odd Tests, a legend of the game but a legend of a guy."
