He isn't used to such a situation, but when he has to face one, he does so with élan and tongue-in-cheek humour.
Anil Kumble has been India's bowling spearhead for quite some time -- his 608 wickets in 127 Tests gives ample testimony of that. And even after assuming the mantle of captaincy, his performance with the ball remains the same, if not better: 42 wickets in just nine Tests.
So, it is rather unusual for him to be in a situation where the talk is about his team's defeat and his own fitness woes instead of his bowling, which has given him just four wickets in the two Tests against South Africa.
Kumble, however, is unperturbed. And even if he is a worried man, at least he does not let that become evident.
"Thanks for saying that my bowling looks very ordinary," he said, when a scribe put a query regarding the same.
After dilly-dallying with his fitness assessment, the Indian skipper took to the field in the second Test at Motera. Going by things, Green Park is in for an encore, as Kumble is anything but forthcoming about his chances.
"The first thing we will do tomorrow morning is to take a call on my fitness. Till then, I am hoping things should get better," he said, the dilly-dallying bit still intact.
But isn't it a fact that his injury has bothered him for some time now and affected his effort with the ball?
"If I can bowl only then will I play. That's the kind of attitude that I have," he said matter-of-factly.
Isn't the fitness factor a worry as regards other players in the team as well, what with Sachin Tendulkar getting ruled out of the third Test, Ishant Sharma struggling with injury and question marks about S Sreesanth's fitness?
"Ishant is fit and so is Sreesanth. Apart from myself, all others are quite fit," clarified Kumble, before pointing out that the decision on the team composition is yet to be taken.
"We have a team meeting in the evening and we will take a final call tomorrow morning," is all he was willing to reveal.
Will local hope Mohammad Kaif get a chance to play?
"At this point Yuvraj (Singh) is ahead of Kaif," said Kumble.
And what is the captain's take on the much-discussed pitch?
"A lot of talk has happened about the pitch. It looks a fairly dry surface and it should help us as the match progresses," he admitted, adding, "but let's take the pitch, the toss and the weather out of the equation for the time being."
The team had its practice sessions in a rather mechanical manner -- and it looked as if the ghost of Motera is still haunting it. But if Kumble is to be believed, the Ahmedabad debacle is now a thing of the past.
"The conditions in Chennai were difficult. In Ahmedabad, we had one bad session, probably our only one in the last six years, where we lost 10 wickets in just 20 overs. But we have put all those things behind us," he explained, before opening the can containing the team's strategies for the match [mind you, just opening it, not spilling its contents].
"We have a few plans to go ahead with and exploit," he said. "We are positive and in a confident frame of mind. And that is the way we should approach this game. It is not for the first time that we are down in the series and trying to come back"
Despite all the claims, Kumble is aware of the reality and doesn't hesitate to admit it.
"The bottom line is that we must ensure that we get the right result so that we can level the series," he said, before signing off.