Anil Kumble's jumbo journey

[manoj_admlab]

INDIATIMES CRICKET / Tarun Sharda & Hijam Raju Less than a month after his 37th birthday, Anil Kumble received the honour to captain India in Tests for the home series against Pakistan. No bowler in history has won India more Test matches than Anil Kumble and perhaps no better fighter than this ‘Assassin’. Ferozeshah Kotla stadium is Anil Kumble’s happiest hunting ground, he has 48 wickets in five Tests here, all in winning causes. Kumble the cricketer Kumble is a right-arm leg spinner with an unorthodox style, most famous for his flipper. His wicket taking skills is based on the simple principles of good line and length, and the desire to make the batsman play each and every ball. He started his career as a medium pacer that ensures him a useful faster delivery. He relies more on accuracy, variations and bounce than spinning the ball. He made his Test debut when he was 19 years 296 days old on August 9-14, 1990 in the second Test of India's tour of England. He established himself as a quality international spinner when India toured South Africa in 1992, taking 8 wickets in the second Test and announced his arrival in the world cricket. Later in the same year he took 21 wickets in just three Test matches at an average of 19.8 on England Tour, establishing his reputation. In his 17 years long career, he has 566 victims in his bag from 118 Tests and 211 innings behind only to two spin wizards Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. He took five wickets 33 times and 10 wickets eight times with the best spell of 10/74 in an inning. He is the second bowler to take perfect ten in Tests history after Jim Laker of England. He has 1078 First-class wickets to his credit from 229 matches with an economy rate of 2.60. Kumble against Pakistan Against Pakistan he played 12 Tests and has 63 wickets with an economy of 3.32. During India's last tour to Pakistan in 2005 he took nine wickets in three Test matches. Against Pakistan he has taken five wickets four times and ten wickets twice. During February 4-8, 1999 in Delhi he took all ten wickets in an innings against Pakistan and helped India win by 212 runs. He has taken 48 wickets in 5 matches in the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium. And interestingly he is playing his debut as a captain from the very same ground. Landmarks In December 2001, on his home turf in Bangalore, he became India's first spinner to take 300 Test wickets. A year later, almost to the day, he became the first to do so in One-dayers. In August 2007 at The Oval he went past Glenn McGrath's 563 wickets to move to No.3 behind only Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. He also slammed his first Test century at The Oval which took him 17 years and 118 matches to do so. He is one of the only two bowlers in cricket history to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings, the other being Jim Laker of England. He took his first 50 Test wickets in just 10 Test matches, the fastest ever by an Indian bowler. He also holds the world record for the largest number of caught-and-bowled dismissals in Tests, 28. The Fighter Kumble's showed great resilience at St John's, Antigua in 2002 when he bandaged his fractured jaw to deliver 14 overs and took one wicket and that too of Lara. The match ended in a draw. His work-holism was well drafted when he tirelessly bowled 72 overs in a Test innings against Sri Lanka at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on August 2-6, 1997. In this inning Sri Lanka Scored 952 runs in 271 overs in reply to India’s 537 in 167.3 overs and the match ended in a draw. He is also one of the very few bowlers to have conceded over 250 runs in a Test match. Without any fuss he bowled a total of 88.5 overs conceding 279 runs in a Test match against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground on January 2-6, 2004, but came out triumphantly with a 12 wickets haul for the match, showcasing his utmost fighting spirit.