BENGALURU: From a hunt for vegetarian food in London to memories of his test debut at Manchester, former cricketer Anil Kumble shared his fondest memories of the United Kingdom during a recent rapid-fire session in the city with British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis.
When Ellis asked Kumble about his favourite meals in the UK, the veteran spinner said: “I am a vegetarian, so I go around trying to get Indian vegetarian or vegetarian food. There are lots of Indian restaurants like the Bombay Brasserie. A friend of mine owns Rasa, which serves Kerala food.” This invited a witty remark from Ellis, who said: “You can take a boy out of South India, but you can’t take South India out of a boy.”
Kumble recalled his favourite summer in the UK, which was back in 1995, where he played for the Northampton county and even got 100 wickets.
‘Nice feeling to play at Lords’
Ellis asked Kumble about his favourite UK memories and a wicket that gave him great satisfaction. “I have a lot of wonderful memories of the UK — I made my test debut at Manchester in Old Trafford, started my test career there and also played the only test where I made 100 runs at the Oval. It is always a nice feeling to play at the Lords,” Kumble said, adding: “The first wicket of my test career, Allan Lamb gave me enormous satisfaction. In fact, when he became my captain when I played for Northampton, I kept reminding Lammy of him being my first wicket.”
Ellis and Kumble’s rapid-fire session took place on the sidelines of the annual Queen’s Birthday Party, which was hosted by the British Deputy High Commission in Bengaluru on Thursday. The Queen turned 96 on April 21, 2022 and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was celebrated last week in the UK over an extended four-day weekend. The Queen’s Birthday Party is celebrated by British embassies and high commissions around the world.
