Kumble's retirement decision was well-timed: Gavaskar

New Delhi: It is said that the true hallmark of a great cricketer lies in his decision to go away on his own terms rather than being asked to go away. Shane Warne did it, Adam Gilchrist did it, and actually so did our very own Sunil Gavaskar.

That is why the legendary India batsman Gavaskar told CNN-IBN in an exclusive that he entirely agreed with the timing of Anil Kumble's retirement decision, while paying his tribute to one of the all-time greats of the game.

"I think there was little bit more left in the tank for sure but I think that is the time when you probably want to leave when you know that another year or may be a couple of years are ahead of you. I think more than the body, it is the mind that tells you. It is when you can't concentrate or it is the time when you start looking at the clock and saying to yourself, 'Oh my god, another 10 minutes to go for lunch,'" said Gavaskar.

Talking about Kumble's 18-year long journey that saw him take 619 Test and 337 One-Day wickets, the former India captain recalled his favourite Kumble moment.

"My favourite moment of Anil Kumble, apart from the 10 wickets that he took against Pakistan in Feroze Shah Kotla, has to be the 100 that he got at the Oval. I think it was such a terrific effort because before that he had got out twice in the 80s and once he got run out. But that day there he was at 98 or 99 and he stepped down the pitch to drive Pietersen, if I remember rightly and he squeezed the ball and it went past the stumps and through the wicketkeeper's legs but to everyone of us as well as the Indian dressing room it looked as if he has squeezed the ball on to the stumps and thought that he got out.

"But the moment we realised that the ball had actually got behind the wicketkeeper and Anil had started to wave his bat, you should have seen the Indian dressing room erupt and you should have seen the Indian media erupt and also the Indian commentators over there -- the Indian commentators just got up."

And although Kumble has surprised the cricket world as well as his own teammates by announcing his retirement suddenly, but Gavaskar told CNN-IBN that the Indian players won't have much of a problem to cope with it.

"I think these are all very experienced players and I don't think these things will distract them. I think in the dressing room they all know what is happening and with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain I don't think I am too worries at all. What is of concern is the kind of pitch that would be there in Nagpur, simply because this is a new stadium and a new pitch, which has not been tested before. So, if it turns out to be the usual Nagpur pitch which is full of runs then I don't see a problem at all."