Top 4 Performances of Anil Kumble
Cricket is a batsman game these days. We have come a long way from struggling to get to 220 in an ODI to finishing with 200+ on the board in a T20I. The Indian team of the late 90s and the early 2000s had the best batting line up with the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman, who were undoubtedly the greatest match winners.
It was such a nice combination wherein one or the other would shoulder the responsibility to take the team across the line. We have looked at various innings played in different conditions, which led to some famous victories both in India as well as on foreign soil but we tend to forget the contribution of the big man who took 619 wickets in his international career. Yes, it is Anil Kumble.
He was there when the captain needed him at crucial situations. One such incident is when he bowled 14 overs against the West Indies at Antigua with a broken jaw, taking the important wicket of Brian Lara in the process.
Being India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests as well as in ODIs speaks of his impact on the performance of the team. In a career spanning over 15 years, Kumble had a lot of impactful performances. Let us look at some of his best performances:
1. 10 for 74 against Pakistan at Delhi(1999):
It was February 7, 1999, when Kumble emulated Jim Laker by taking all ten wickets in an innings. The visitors were set a huge target of 420 runs with India needing to win the Test to level the series after a narrow defeat in the first Test at Chennai.
From 101 for no loss to 128 for 6, Pakistan batting line-up crumbled quickly. After Saeed Anwar was back to the pavilion, Pakistan were in deep trouble and the chance of drawing the match became improbable.
Even though the lower middle order offered little resistance, Kumble ran through the line-up finishing with career-best figures of 10 for 74 in Tests. He had 4 wickets to his name in the first innings finishing with match figures of 14 for 149.
It was India’s first win against the arch-rivals in 19 years with Kumble just the second bowler in the cricket history to take all 10 wickets in an innings.