Anil Kumble, an Indian icon, shared a humorous story ahead of IPL 2026. against March 28, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the reigning champions, will take against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), the 2016 victors, in the 19th edition.
Anil Kumble recalls amusing incidents in which fans mistook him for someone else and addressed him by the names of other cricket players. He went by the names of Mohammad Azharuddin, Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, and Javagal Srinath. He disclosed, however, that things worsened when he was asked if he was the fabled Sunil Gavaskar by some Americans.
“People have called me someone else as well. Javagal Srinath. That is okay. Ravi Shastri. That is also fine. Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, that is also fine. But in the US, someone asked me if I was Sunil Gavaskar. That was too much,” he said on ‘Cheeky Singles’.
During the same discussion, former bowler RP Singh disclosed that he encountered a similar circumstance in which he was frequently referred to as Rohit Sharma.
“Someone once called me Rohit Sharma. I was like what? Rohit? Not one, so many people have,” he stated.
RP Singh represented India in all three forms, while Anil Kumble only participated in Tests and ODIs. The two former cricket players participated in the IPL as well.
Former India cricketers share hilarious fan experiences
Kumble and RP Singh, two former Indian cricket players, also related amusing fan stories. In Finland, RP Singh once met an Indian who became his fan. The pacer was glad to have discovered a fellow citizen who shared his admiration, even if he had assumed he would have to carry all the bags by himself.
“My experience was a little different with fans. There is a place in Finland. My wife told me and we went to visit. There was no Indian there. I spoke and checked in. They asked us to take our luggage and go to our room that was a kilometer away. I thought I would have to carry all of it. We went to eat first. I saw an Indian guy was looking at me from far. He saw and ran towards me saying RP sir. I said wow, here also someone knows me. He was the manager of the hotel. Luckily he was my fan so we had a good two to three days there,” he said.
Anil Kumble discovered at a later event that a bride’s brother had gone missing at the wedding after taking ten wickets in an innings during a Test match against Pakistan. The brother was later discovered watching that game.
“I had gone for an event in Ahmedabad. There they told me that their wedding was on the same day at around 3pm or something. The bride’s brother was missing. They were searching him and he was in front of the TV,” Kumble stated.
