Happy Birthday Anil Kumble – One of the Greatest Spinners of all Time

Anil Kumble photo

In Cricket, there are prodigies and unorthodox raw talent, who have inspired and excited the cricket fans across the globe. These players are the manifestation of our hidden burning desire to be recognized as special with unlimited potential. We aspire to become superior to others; this is our basic inherited feeding.

The reality is that character, hard work and consistency and are the only weapons, which can take any player to the Everest height of success. Talent is like a seed, it needs to be nurtured through dedication and will power. Anil Kumble is a prime example of an average Indian, who learns to adapt under any circumstances through developing resilience and awareness to safeguard the survival.

Today is the birthday of Indian old warhorse Anil Kumble, the greatest match winner India has ever produced in Cricket. Since the legend made his debut in 1990 against England, he has always proved the critics wrong with his exceptional performances despite all flaws and odds.

The spin wizard has taken 619 wickets in test cricket and 337 wickets in One Day cricket, taking the total tally to 956 wickets in Internatioal cricket, making him the third highest wicket taker. Only Shane Warne (1001 international wickets) and Muttiah Muralitharan (1334 international wickets) are ahead of him.

He was widely criticized for not turning the ball prodigiously and was often called a medium pacer by the English men, but his numerous spin variations and trajectories have always outfoxed the best batsmen.

Exceptional Performances

  • His notable performances include 21 wickets in 3 test matches against England in 1992-93 series. India won the test series comprehensively.
  • He was the leading wicket taker during the Australia tour of India in 1996 and 98. He took 32 wickets in total completely demolishing the Aussies batting line up.
  • Who can forget the 10 wicket haul against Pakistan in Delhi? Only the second person to achieve the feat in test cricket after veteran Jim Laker.
  • His 6/12 in the final of the Hero Cup 1993 won India the prestigious tournament.
  • He has claimed 61 wickets in a calendar year, which is still a world record. He achieved the feat in 1996.
  • He has claimed 8 ten wicket hauls and 37 five wicket hauls in international cricket.

When Anil Kumble became the Captain by Default

India had registered the test series win against England in 2007 after  21 long years, when grass looked green for Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid out of blue resigned as a captain. According to some sources, he had already made up his mind, but wanted to resign on a winning note.

After the resignation, Sachin Tendulkar was the favorite choice as Dhoni was still a newbie in test cricket, but Tendulkar declined and passed the ball to Anil Kumble’s court.

Anil accepted the responsibility and led the team for the next 1 year. He led India on 14 occasions, winning on 3 occasions, lost on 5 occasions and drawn the rest 6 tests. The highlights of Anil Kumble captaincy was famous perth test win against Australia, series win against Pakistan and Australia on Indian soil

The Monkey Gate Scandal

Anil Kumble The Monkey Gate Scandal

During the Sydney test in 2008, the Australian team left no stones unturned in registering their 17 consecutive test win, either by hook or crook. The match was evenly poised, until Ricky Ponting and his men started using false tricks to dismiss India. The close angle camera clearly showed that both Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly were not out.

Umpire Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson instead of using technology went his Ricky Ponting words and declared both the batsmen out, which costed India the game.

After the match, Kumble said that only India played in the right spirit of the game. Anil Kumble stood firm with Harbhajan Singh during the entire monkey gate scandal and pressurized BCCI to take firm actions.

The Broken Jaw Episode

Anil Kumble The Broken Jaw

It was 2002, Anil Kumble was batting at the crease, until a bouncer from Mervyn Dillion hit him on jaw. The Indian dressing room looked intimidated and the sword of losing the test match was flying over the head, but the stalwart stood to the occasion and bowled in the match with a broken jaw.

His gargantuan valorous effort got him the prize scalp of Brian Lara in the match.

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