Happy Birthday Anil Kumble: fourth-highest wicket-taker

Veteran former Indian spinner Anil Kumble is celebrating his 51st birthday today. Widely regarded as one of India’s greatest match winners, Kumble represented the national team in 132 Tests and 271 ODIs. With 619 Test wickets to his name, and Kumble is India’s leading wicket-taker and the fourth-highest wicket-taker overall.

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Take 10 wickets in Test innings-

Anil Kumble is one of only two bowlers (the other being England’s Jim Laker) to take 10 wickets in Test innings, he achieved this feat during the second match of the series against Pakistan in Delhi. ‘Jumbo’, as he is known among the cricket fraternity, registered figures of 10/74 in 26.3 overs.

India bundled out Pakistan for 172 in the first innings with an exceptional bowling performance, scoring 252 in the first innings. In the second innings, Sadagopan Ramesh (96) and Sourav Ganguly (62*) scored brilliant half-centuries, setting India a target of 420 for Pakistan.

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Chasing the target, the team started well and openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar shared 101 runs for the first wicket. The match seemed to be in balance until Kumble was included in the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.

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The leg-spinner dismissed Afridi (41) in the first 25th over. After that, India did not let go of the pedal and kept taking wickets through Kumble, and in no time Pakistan was reduced to 128/6.

Kumble continued to take wickets-

Kumble continued to take wickets at regular intervals. And in the 61st over he made a name for himself in the history books by dismissing Wasim Akram.

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He finished with exceptional figures of 10/74 in 26.3 overs and helped India register a famous victory by 212 runs.

“A ‘perfect 10’ is not something you want to achieve as a cricketer. I will attribute the events of February 7, 1999, to luck,” Kumble told the BCCI website in 2014.

The leg-spinner announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 after representing India in 132 Tests and taking 619 wickets, including 35 five-wicket hauls.