His fingers seemed to be itching even as he spoke to reporters informally. A look at the pitch even from the cool of the pavilion had him excited but Anil Kumble controlled himself. "Since I am not playing, I do not want to have a close look at the wicket," he said on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Indian spin spearhead, underdoing treatment after the surgery to his injured right shoulder, hinted that he was not going to hurry his comeback. "I have been asked not to bowl a ball for at least three months and it is now about two months since I underwent surgery. After that will come the rehabilitation period and I am not sure how long this will be. But I will be taking it in stages and hope to recover fully before I even think of playing the game again."

Given this information, it is unlikely that Kumble will be fit - or even think of playing - before May. Which of course means he may not be available for the tour of Zimbabwe in May-June. Kumble may be back only for the trip to Sri Lanka in July-August.

Kumble however said he had been following the Test matches very closely and expressed happiness at India's victory and in particular Harbhajan Singh's performance. Kumble had given some tips to all the spin bowlers called for the conditioning camp at Chennai last month but quickly replied in the negative when asked whether his tips had been responsible for India's great victory at Kolkata. "The boys won by the enormous amount of hard work they put in," he said.

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