Kumble rules himself out
of Zimbabwe series

Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble on Friday ruled himself out of the entire home series against Zimbabwe because of a right shoulder injury.

"My shoulder has not properly healed. I have been advised exercises by my doctor. I need some time," he said.

Kumble was sidelined for part of last month's one-day series in Sharjah because of the problem, which has been attributed to overuse.

He also missed the one-off Test against Bangladesh which India won by nine wickets on Monday and had already warned he would not be ready for the first Zimbabwe test.

Indian captain Saurav Ganguly said: "We don't want to rush Anil.

"We will miss Kumble, but now that we are not going to Pakistan we want to make sure he is fit and rested in time for Australia in February.

The two-Test series against Zimbabwe begins on Saturday at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium.

The last Test there, in February 1999, saw Kumble capture all 10 Pakistan second-innings wickets to match Jim Laker's world record and set up a memorable series-levelling victory.

Zimbabwe coach Carl Rackemann said his team was disappointed about Kumble "because every good team loves a challenge."

The 30-year-old bowler, with 276 victims, is India's second highest Test wicket-taker after paceman and former captain Kapil Dev. He played for English county Leicestershire earlier this year.

Australia are due to tour India in February for three Tests and five one-day international.

Mail Cricket Editor