Meet Anil Kumble in new avatar: Ace photographer

All his life Anil Kumble carefully plotted the downfall of opposition batsmen. But he was up to something else too all along, and the results are now out.

All his life Anil Kumble carefully plotted the downfall of opposition batsmen. But he was up to something else too all along, and the results are now out.

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Kumble’s passion for photography, whether it is catching his team-mates off guard at parties, freezing special moments for posterity, or travelling deep into the forests to capture wildlife, has resulted in Wide Angle, a coffee-table book released by Shane Warne in Bangalore on Wednesday.

A number of the pictures in the book — of Sachin Tendulkar pouring a glass of champagne after a Test win, of John Wright playing the guitar after a hard day’s work, Javagal Srinath wearing a turban he’s probably borrowed from Harbhajan Singh — give an intimate peek into life on tour with the Indian team.

“When I travelled to Srinagar for an under-17 tournament, my brother gave me a point-and-shoot camera to take along. I guess the bug bit me then,” explained Kumble.

“I used to tell the team they had no privacy, since I always had my camera with me. Now that I’ve retired, they’re better off,” Kumble joked.