NEW DELHI (Reuters)
Legspinner Anil Kumble is confident of easing into the Indian team on his comeback from injury for the upcoming tour of South Africa. "I feel very happy to be back. I have started playing recently and I am quite confident with my bowling," Kumble, who has been chosen for the one-day triangular series starting next month, told Reuters on the telephone from Bombay.

Kumble was sidelined for almost a year because of a shoulder injury but is confident of also regaining his place for the three-Test series which follows the one-day series. The one-day tournament also involving Kenya will be held from October 5 to 26. India then play three Tests in Bloemfontein (November 3-7), Port Elizabeth (November 16-20) and Centurion (November 23-27).

Kumble has been out of action since last October, when he withdrew midway through a one-day series in Sharjah complaining of shoulder pain. He underwent surgery in January after physiotherapy did not help and returned to action in July by playing in a few domestic tournaments.

He said he still had almost a month left to get into his stride and that being part of the national side by itself was morale-boosting.

Kumble is India's second-highest Test wicket-taker with 276 victims behind Kapil Dev's 434. He took all 10 second-innings wickets in the second Test against Pakistan at New Delhi in February 1999 to equal English spinner Jim Laker's world record and lead India to a series-levelling win.

Kumble has also been a consistent one-day bowler: his fastish legbreaks and disconcerting bounce make scoring difficult and have brought him 274 wickets from 208 games.

He will have the opportunity to assess himself during the one-day tournament before the Tests. "Playing any international game will give confidence. I don't think there will be any problem," he said.

Kumble said he was looking forward to bowling alongside young offspinner Harbhajan Singh. "It will be good bowling with him. He has done really well in the last seven to eight months," he said of Singh, who captured 32 wickets to lead India to an upset 2-1 home-series win over Australia early this year.

Singh struggled during India's recent 2-1 series defeat in Sri Lanka and took only four wickets at 73 runs apiece, but Kumble's return is expected to ease the pressure on him. Kumble is among many key players recovering from injuries who have been selected for the one-day series in South Africa.

Leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar is just back in training after a foot injury sidelined him for two months and VVS Laxman underwent an arthroscopy for a knee-ligament tear last month.

But Kumble was philosophical about being forced out of the game for nearly a year because of the injury: "It is part and parcel of any career in sport. One has to live with it and take it in one's stride."

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