Anil Kumble sports a traditional Mysore Peta presented by the Karnataka chief minister to celebrate his 500 Test wickets at a function in Bangalore on Wednesday. (PTI)

Bangalore: Anil Kumble, who is not part of Team India’s one-day squad in the ongoing series against England, said on Wednesday that he was sure that he would figure in the squad that plays next year’s World Cup in the West Indies.

“The (Indian) team is doing very well. It’s always good to be a part of a successful team. But I am sure I am in the scheme of things and the World Cup is one year from now... Lot of cricket from now till then,” Kumble said.

After the Karnataka government felicitated him for bagging 500 Test wickets, Kumble said: “I am enjoying the break and looking forward to going to the West Indies (India’s upcoming tour) and playing cricket there”.

The ace spinner said he was planning to set up a sports academy here, where he would like to spend time post-retirement.

At the felicitation function at Vidhan Soudha, the state secretariat, attended by the chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Kumble requested the state government to allot him land for the proposed academy.

He said he would require 10 acres of land close to Bangalore for the academy which would initially focus on cricket and then a couple of other identified disciplines which require “immediate attention”.

Kumble said Karnataka produced sports icons such as Prakash Padukone, Chetan Baboor, Mahesh Bhupathi and Pankaj Advani, adding that the “prototype” of the academy was ready and he proposed to run it by a committee, which would comprise some of these icons besides himself.

He said he planned to shift over to this academy once he called it a day as a player.

He, however, hastened to add that “retirement is a long way away”.

Then he said in a lighter vein: “Chief minister wants me to go past Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidharan and that itself will take a long time.”

Chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who felicitated Kumble and presented him with a Rs 5 lakh cheque, said the government would respond to Kumble’s request for land for the academy and take a decision.

When asked if he thought Sourav Ganguly had a lot of cricket left in him, Kumble bypassed the query, saying that “this is not a stage for discussing other things.”

He said the felicitation was probably the most prestigious one for him as it had come from his home state.

On Robin Uthappa’s inclusion in the Indian squad for the remaining four one-dayers against England and two ties against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, Kumble said it was a great opportunity for the Karnataka batsman.

“I am sure given the opportunity, he will prove that he deserved that place.”