17th October 1970: Indian cricketer Anil Kumble was born
The third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, Anil Kumble was born on 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka. For a right-arm leg spinner, he did not turn the ball much, instead varying the pace and using bounce to confuse batsmen.
Born to K.N. Krishna Swamy and Saroja, Kumble took to playing street cricket as a child in Bangalore and joined a youth cricket club. He graduated in mechanical engineering in 1992 from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering.
Following his first-class debut for Karnataka in 1989, he was selected for India Under-19 team, and scored a century in the first test against Pakistan. On 25 April 1990, Kumble made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the Austral-Asia Cup, S.H.U. Karnain becoming his first ODI victim. In August that year, Kumble made his Test debut against England at Old Trafford. His first Test wicket was of Allan Lamb, caught at silly point. He got two more wickets in that innings. After this series, however, he got his next chance to play after more than two years.
Kumble showed his class when India toured South Africa in 1992, picking up eight wickets in the second Test. His figures of 18 wickets at an average of 25.94 and an economy rate of 1.84 in the four test series meant India had a potential match-winner. He performed spectacularly well when England toured India for a three-test tour later that year, grabbing 21 wickets at an average of 19.8, and using his trademark ‘flipper’ to run through the English side.
On 27 November 1993 in the final of the Hero Cup against the West Indies at Calcutta’s Eden Gardens, Kumble conceded only 12 runs and took six wickets, an Indian record that has not been surpassed. In January 1994 he got his first ten-wicket Test haul against Sri Lanka, helping India to a comfortable innings victory. He played for Northamptonshire in the 1995 English county cricket season, and was the only bowler to take more than 100 wickets that season.
On 18 October 1995, playing in his 21st test in front of his home crowd in Bangalore, Kumble’s dismissal of Martin Crowe became the spinner’s 100th wicket. His 300th and 400th wickets would also come at the same venue, delighting his fans in Karnataka.
Wisden named him Cricketer of the Year in 1996.
Displaying his value as a team player on 29 November 1996, he scored 88 against South Africa in a 161-run eighth-wicket stand. India lost, but everyone applauded Kumble’s fighting spirit. In 1996, he led the tally of wicket-takers, with 90 wickets in tests and ODIs. In the 1996 Cricket World Cup, he got the most wickets of the tournament.
In February 1997, he was the leading wicket-taker in an India-West Indies test series played in the West Indies, picking up 19 wickets at an average of 30.31. He again led the wickets tally during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in India in 1998, claiming 23 wickets in three tests, at the average of 18.26.
The Indian leg-spinner created cricketing history on 7 February 1999 on a dusty Feroz Shah Kotla track in Delhi, taking all the ten wickets of Pakistani second innings and emulating Englishman Jim Laker’s 10-53 wicket haul in a Manchester Test against Australia in 1956.
Kumble’s astonishing performance led India to a 212-run victory in the second Test, with the hapless Pakistanis, chasing a target of 420, all out for 207 an hour after tea on the fourth day.
“It’s a dream, an honour to get all ten,” Kumble said after the match. “I knew I had to bowl straight to be successful on this wicket. I kept a good line and it all worked out in the end.”
On 12 May 2002, despite a broken jaw, Kumble decided to play on the third day of the fourth Test at St. John's against the West Indies, bowling 14 overs and dismissing Brian Lara, in a courageous display of the sporting spirit.
The 2003-04 Indian tour of Australia saw Kumble give one of his finest bowling performances, taking 24 wickets in the series, including a terrific 5 for 154 in Adelaide, putting the Aussies on the back foot.
Playing his 99th Test in December 2005, he took ten wickets for the eighth time in his career, helping India cruise to a 188-run victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Kotla. On 10 August 2007 he scored his only century, remaining unbeaten on 110.
On 30 March 2007, Kumble announced his retirement from ODIs. He finished his career with 337 wickets in 271 ODIs.
He was appointed captain of the Indian Test squad in November 2007 after Rahul Dravid resigned as captain. Kumble led India to a 1-0 series victory against Pakistan.
Following a finger injury, Kumble found it hard to regain form in a series against Australia in the winter of 2008. He announced his retirement from Test cricket on 2 November 2008 in the 3rd test match against Australia at Feroz Shah Kotla. “I knew I wouldn’t be 100 per cent for the next test, and I didn’t want to let the team down,” he said after the Test.
Kumble said bowling for 18 years was not a joke. “My last injury helped me make this decision . . . . Criticism is part of every sport, so it is not a decision based on criticism,” he said. “I don’t regret any moment in the last 18 years.”
“He’s a great competitor,” Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said on the occasion. “Every single Australia player I’ve spoken to has always been delighted with the way he [Kumble] plays the game.”
Kumble’s 619 wickets in Test cricket make him the third-highest wicket-taker, behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne. But the spectacular numbers don’t tell the whole story of his success and contribution to Indian cricket. In an article in the January 2005 issue of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine, another great Indian cricketer from Bangalore had this to say about the spinner: “[Kumble’s] greatness arrives from his ability to always see himself as a student. He is always learning . . . He is the essential 100 percent cricketer, every day, every over, every ball, bringing great energy to the contest, facing every challenge with his jaw sternly set — or even broken, for that matter!”
Also on this day:
1817 — Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Indian Muslim educationist, scholar and social activist, was born
1947 — Simi Garewal, Hindi film actress and TV host, was born
1979 — Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
1981 — Kannadasan, Tamil poet, writer and lyricist, passed away
