Happy Birthday Anil Kumble: Remembering the spinner's 'Perfect 10' against Pakistan
Legendary former Indian spinner Anil Kumble is celebrating his 51st birthday today. Widely regarded as one of India's biggest match-winners, Kumble represented the national team in 132 Tests and 271 ODIs. With 619 Test wickets to his name, Kumble is India's highest wicket-taker and fourth-highest overall.
In ODIs, the leg-spinner took 337 wickets.
Kumble is one of the only two bowlers (the other being England's Jim Laker) to take 10 wickets in a Test innings. He achieved the feat during the second match of the series against Pakistan in Delhi. 'Jumbo', as he is fondly known among the cricket fraternity, recorded figures of 10/74 in 26.3 overs.
It was on February 7, 1999 when the legendary Indian leg-spinner forced Pakistan team to bow before him at the Feroz Shah Kotla, now known as the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium.
India had lost the first Test in Chennai by a mere 12 runs and were in a must-win situation in the Delhi Test in 1999.
India came out with an exceptional bowling performance in the first innings to bundle out Pakistan for 172 after posting 252 in the first innings. In the second innings, Sadgopan Ramesh (96) and Sourav Ganguly (62*) scored gritty half-centuries as India posted a target for 420 for Pakistan.
During the chase, the visitors got off to a steady start as openers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar put on 101 runs for the first wicket. The match seemed to be in balance until Kumble was introduced into the attack and wreaked havoc on the Pakistani batting line-up.
The leg-spinner first dismissed Afridi (41) in the 25th over. After that, India didn't let go off the foot of the paddle and kept on taking wickets through Kumble and Pakistan were reduced to 128/6 in no time.
Kumble kept on taking wickets at regular intervals and it was in the 61st over that he entered history books by dismissing Wasim Akram.
He finished with exceptional figures of 10/74 from 26.3 overs and helped India register a famous win by 212 runs.
"A 'Perfect 10' isn't something you set out to achieve as a cricketer. I would attribute the events of 7th February 1999 to destiny," Kumble had told the BCCI website in 2014.
The leg-spinner, after representing India in 132 Tests and scalping 619 wickets which included 35 five-wickets hauls, announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008.
Kumble is third in the list of highest wicket takers in Test cricket behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708)
