Kumble turns 45: Some stupendous achievements of India's best bowler
Anil Kumble was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame early this yearWhile Zaheer Khan’s retirement comes as a shock, it’s time to rejoice as another one of India’s finest bowlers, and Zaheer’s senior teammate and former captain celebrates his birthday this Saturday.Anyone who doesn’t know Kumble has not witnessed or gone through the pages of India’s cricket history during the 90’s and 2000’s. Kumble made his ODI debut on 25 April 1990, and his Test debut (Old Trafford, same year) was the same match in which Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden century. The two played together for India for more than 18 years, and won India numerous feats in Tests and one-dayers, home and abroad. While Anil Kumble’s ODI career faded post World Cup 2003, his Test career peaked in these years, but he came back for his final one-day swansong during the 2007 World Cup, where India failed miserably.However, when everyone had written team India off, the seniors who seemed to have been playing beyond their best years, came to the fore to win India a Test series in England after 21 years, and their first home series against Pakistan in over 37 years. This included Kumble scoring his maiden Test century, and earning the position of India’s Test captain.Though 2008 wasn’t as successful as these golden years, India added another feather to their cap after winning yet another home series against Australia – bringing along with it the retirement of Kumble and Sourav Ganguly.However, Kumble’s best was not over as he marshalled his home team Royal Challengers Bangalore’s way into the IPL final with his bowling and captaincy in 2009, and took them to another edition of the Champions Trophy in 2010, his final year in competitive cricket. His 20 eventful years on an international stage had many milestones. Let’s have a look at some of his achievements – ones we know and ones we never knew about.
#1 Eden Gardens-1993
A five-nation one-day final. The first floodlight final in India. The stadium with the highest capacity (100,000) in the world. Diwali eve. India bats first and gets a low score. And Brian Lara and Co. are blazing away with the chase. Sachin gets Lara, but West Indies are unstoppable. Azhar then introduces into the attack one spinner who is looking to establish himself as an integral member of the team. This was just the stage Anil Kumble was waiting for.
Kumble took all the six remaining wickets in a spell of just six overs and becomes the first bowler in the world to do so under floodlights. India wins the final in front of a huge crowd, and the world of cricket now knows who Anil Kumble is.