IPL 2019: 3 best spells by Anil Kumble in IPL history
The most successful leg-spinner in the history of Indian cricket, Anil Kumble had been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise in the first 3 seasons of IPL. Representing his home franchise, Kumble played 42 IPL matches and picked 45 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.57.
He even captained the team in the 2009 and 2010 seasons after the team failed to perform well under Rahul Dravid's captaincy in 2008. Under his captaincy, RCB reached the IPL final in 2009 and finished in the third position in IPL 2010.
Kumble is known for his ability of outwitting the batsmen with his leg spin and so, he had later been recruited by Mumbai Indians as their head coach.
With the IPL season approaching, let's have a look at the top 3 spells of Anil Kumble in IPL history:
#3 3/14 vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2008
In the 46th match of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, Chennai Super Kings hosted the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. RCB batted first and skipper Rahul Dravid's knock of 47 runs helped the team post a total of 126 on the board at the loss of 8 wickets.
Chasing a small total of 127, Chennai got off to a stable start as Parthiv Patel and Stephen Fleming batted cautiously in the powerplay. They built a 60 runs partnership but Anil Kumble broke the stand in the tenth over by sending Parthiv back to the pavilion.
In the 14th over of CSK's chase, Kumble picked up the wickets of Fleming and S Badrinath to derail the home team's innings. Chennai suffered a collapse after that and succumbed to a 14 runs defeat as Anil Kumble walked away with the man of the match award.