Five Indian bowlers and their bunnies
India has perennially been a batting powerhouse, churning out top quality batsmen one after the other. From Vijay Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar in the 70s and 80s to the "fab four" (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman) in the late 90s and 2000s to Virat Kohli, the batting juggernaut just rolls on.
However, in a country obsessed with batting, there have been bowlers who, with their skills and tenacity, have managed to out-think and outdo some of the most renowned batsmen around the world, making them their 'bunny' in the process.
Here is a look at five of them:
#5 Anil Kumble - Adam Gilchrist
Anil Kumble was of India's greatest match winners and also their highest wicket-taker in Tests (619). Kumble had the aggression reminiscent of a fast bowler and passion akin to a warrior. He loved raising his game against the very best, and the 'very best' in the era that 'Jumbo' played was the Australian team that glittered with a plethora of match winners, one of them being Adam Gilchrist.
Gilchrist went about redefining the role of the wicket-keeper batsman in the 21st century, but even he couldn't fathom the guile and skill of Kumble. Gilchrist, who played an integral role in Australia winning their first ever Test series in India since 1969, fell to Kumble's trickery nine times in 18 encounters, roughly once in every two innings, making it a 50% success rate for the champion spinner.