Anil Kumble

Calcutta: Former India captain Anil Kumble on Tuesday pulled out of the cash-rich Indian Premier League’s players auction citing business commitments, and will now be seen in the role of chief mentor of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team.

Kumble’s pull out came barely three days ahead of the auction, scheduled to be held in Bangalore on Saturday and Sunday.

Kumble, who had already retired from Test and one-day cricket, said he was withdrawing from the auction because of business commitments — his association with cricket administration and wildlife in various capacities.

It effectively means that Kumble is now retiring from all forms of cricket after playing at the top level for nearly two decades.

“I wish to withdraw from the players auction for IPL IV scheduled for the 8th and 9th of January 2011 in Bangalore,” said the legendary leg-spinner in a release.

“I have enjoyed my stint in the IPL so far and thank all concerned for the support extended,” said Kumble, who was elected as Karnataka State Cricket Association president, in November, last year.

No sooner Kumble announced his retirement from IPL, RCB appointed him as the chief mentor of the side and said the former leg-spinner will work closely with team owner, Vijay Mallya, and the entire support staff during the fourth edition of the league.

“Anil’s leadership, both on-field and off-field, augured well for the Royal Challengers in the last two seasons of the Indian Premier League as well as the Champions League. I sincerely believe Anil’s presence in the RCB leadership team will provide a fresh dimension and perspective to our IPL strategy in the medium and long term,” team owner Mallya said in a statement.

Commenting on his new role at RCB, Kumble, said: “I am excited to take on the mentoring role for Royal Challengers. At the same time, the task involves huge responsibility to better the benchmarks that Royal Challengers have already created in the last two seasons. I am confident that I will deliver to the team’s and fans’ expectations. I am ready to take on the challenge.”

Kumble’s pulling out of the players’ auction, however, came as a surprise, especially given the fact that he had recently increased his base price from $200,000 to 400,000.

He was among the 22 players with the highest reserve price of $ 400,000 for the IPL auction to be held in Bangalore.

Kumble, who captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in two IPL seasons — in 2009 and 2010, was not retained by RCB for this season. Only Delhi batsman Virat Kohli was retained.

But Kumble said that he has no hard feelings with RCB after the franchise did not retain him, and his decision to opt out of the auction was purely personal.

“I am not angry that I have not been retained, they might have some reason. This is not the reason for skipping the auctions,” Kumble said.

“There is no bitterness, it is my and only my decision and I am responsible for it and, as I have already mentioned, I have lots of responsibilities due to which I decided to stop playing.”

Kumble also said that he has already played his share of cricket and now wants to contribute to the development of the game.

“I have played this game for (more) than 20 years and I think there comes a time when you have to take a call about the future and what needs to be done. And you know my association with Karnataka Cricket Association and as chairman of National Cricket Academy,” he said.

Kumble who made his international debut in 1990, retired from Test cricket in 2008, and remains India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests (619) as well as in ODIs (337).

The former India skipper was largely responsible for RCB’s turnaround in the IPL. After being named captain for the 2009 season, Kumble led his team to the final of the T20 league.

A year later, the leg-spinner inspired his team to a third-place finish. Consequently, the team qualified for the Champions League T20 tournament twice under his leadership. Kumble also took 45 wickets in the three editions of the IPL to prove his worth even in the shortest version of the game.