Kumble will be back in a month

Bangalore, May 16: Ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who fractured his jaw during the fourth Test against the West Indies, underwent a thorough check-up on Wednesday by a team of dental specialists, who said he can be back on the cricket field after four weeks.

"We had a thorough check-up this morning. Kumble had fracture in lower jaw and he needs surgery," the specialists, who treated the bowler in a private city hospital this morning, said.

The surgery would be performed on Thursday, and it would take four weeks for Kumble's injury to heal. Hospital sources said the bowler was in the hospital for three hours.

Kumble, hit on the jaw by a Mervyn Dillon short-pitched delivery on Saturday, appeared unfazed by the fracture.

"I am allright now. I am disappointed but it (the injury) is part and parcel of the game," he told reporters on his arrival at Bangalore airport at around 4.30 am from Mumbai.

At the airport in his hometown here, where he was warmly received by his parents and wife Chetana, Kumble did not sport a bandage and had some difficulty in speaking.