Anil Kumble - The Jumbo cricket career in numbers

Anil Kumble – The Jumbo cricket career in numbers: Standing at 6 feet 2, Anil Kumble is perhaps one of the tallest bowlers in the Indian team before the arrival of Ishant Sharma. And unsurprisingly, he started out as a medium pacer and doing that he could exploit the advantage his height brought in. But he switched to leg spinners quite early, and down the years, it is perhaps one of the most influential decisions as far as the impact to Indian bowling is concerned.

Nicknamed Jumbo for his “Jumbo” feet size and more specifically, his ability to hurry the batsmen with some genuine pace, Anil Kumble has been one of the most influential bowlers for India since Kapil Dev, and holds a hand in literally each of the famous victories during his career.

Currently serving as the chairman (ex-officio) of the Cricket committee, it can be concluded that one cannot keep cricket away from this legend. And on his birthday, here are some of the major stats and records achieved by Anil Kumble.

Anil Kumble made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 25^TH April 1990. Despite taking a wicket, he gave away 42 runs in his quota, and couldn’t avoid an Indian defeat.

He made his Test debut, against England at Manchester on 9^th August 1990. Though he went wicketless in the 2nd innings, he took 3 wickets in the 1st innings. The Test match is more famous for Sachin’s first ever century in Test cricket, which was a match-saving one.

2-29 – The figures Anil Kumble had to get his first ever man of the match as an ODI player. It was his third ODI, and was the first amongst the 6 man of the match awards he has achieved in this format.

6-53 – Anil Kumble’s figures in his first ever 5 wicket haul. He managed these figures against a newly reformed South African team, at Johannesburg in 1992. He picked up 8 wickets in that match, which was just his 4^th match.

21 – The number of wickets Anil Kumble took in India’s whitewash against England in 1992-93. Albeit not winning a single man of the match, he bagged the man of the series award for his outstanding performances.

50 in 10 – Anil once held the record for fastest ever Indian to reach 50 wickets in Tests landmark, achieving it in 10 matches. His 50^th victim was David Houghton. This record was later broken by R Ashwin, who got there in 9 Tests. Kumble achieved this landmark against Zimbabwe in a lone Test at Delhi. Despite having taken 8 wickets and helping India to an innings victory, the Man of the Match was awarded to Vinod Kambli for his double century.

6-12 – In the final of C.A.B Jubilee tournament for the Hero Cup, Anil Kumble bowled a once in a lifetime spell, having taken 6 wickets, giving away just 12 runs. This was the best ever figures by an Indian in ODIs for more than two decades, till Stuart Binny bettered it with figures of 6-4. Anil Kumble was awarded the Man of the Match for his performance.

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11/128 – Anil Kumble, following an excellent performance against visiting English team in 1992-93, managed to cement his place in the team as a front-line spinner. He got his first ever 10 wicket haul against Sri Lanka, with a match winning figures of 11/128. In the same match, he was awarded with his first ever man of the match in Test cricket.

105 @ 20.40 – In the 1995 county season, Anil Kumble played for Northamptonshire, and took an incredible tally of 105 wickets with an average of just 20.40. He was the highest wicket taker of the season, and subsequently for his efforts, he was named as one of the 5 Wisden cricketers of 1996 for his immensely good performance.

61 in 1996 – Anil Kumble had a dream year in ODIs in 1996, and took an incredible tally of 61 wickets. This is the highest ever number of wickets taken by an Indian bowler in ODIs in a year, and the record stands even today.

13-159 – While Anil Kumble’s role as an ODI bowler was not as important as it was in Tests, it did not mean that his contribution was any less. Against Pakistan in Sahara friendship cup, he took 13 wickets in the series, and won the sole Man of the Series award in his ODI career.

4/75, 10/74, 5 – In what can be considered as a dream match for any player, Anil Kumble pulled off one of the best individual performances possible in a Test match, against Pakistan at Kotla in 1999. Having taken figures of 4/75 in the first innings, it was his performance in the second innings which elevated him to the status of a legend. Defending a total of 409, it seemed like Pakistan were cruising, and had a chance to win the match. But Kumble’s dazzling spell left Pakistan bamboozled, and managed to achieve a record which has not been achieved for nearly 50 years. It is the second best figures by a bowler in Tests. Not only that, Anil Kumble also took 5 catches in that match, which has been occasionally overlooked.

400 and above – Post 2000, Anil Kumble firmly established himself along the same ranks of Sachin Tendulkar, as far as importance in team is concerned in Tests. And it was during this time wherein he was involved in many famous victories, and marched along to break national records. Kumble achieved the 300 landmark in 2001 and that of 400 wickets in 2004. Having reached 400 wickets in 85 Tests, he became the 4th fastest bowler to achieve it, and took 30 less Test matches than Kapil Dev. On December 10 2004, he overtook Kapil Dev to become India’s highest wicket taker, and proudly holds the position since then.

Bagging the 4^th and 3^rd – Post passing Kapil’s landmark, it was just a matter of time before he was destined to pass Courtney Walsh. Not only he broke Courtney’s record, he also went past McGrath’s record of 563 wickets in 2007, to become the 3rd highest wicket taker in Test cricket.

110* – Throughout his career, Anil Kumble had been a sort of neat batsman. Though not an all-rounder, he occasionally stuck around long enough. Despite having 5 fifties, he never got the opportunity to get a century. But in his 117^th Test match, Kumble finally reached triple figures, against England at the Oval. His celebration post achieving it is one for the folklore.

337 – Post 2002-03, Anil Kumble’s participation in the shorter formats was irregular. But he continued playing for India in colored clothing till the end of the 2007 World Cup, and retired post India’s ill fated exit. He took 337 wickets in 271 matches, and retired as India’s highest wicket taker in ODIs.

619 – Post the infamous Sydney match, the Indians were all pumped up going into Perth, which had the nickname of “Graveyard for visitors”. Yet, India managed to pull a stunner of a victory, and Kumble reached a personal milestone. After dismissing Andrew Symonds, Anil Kumble became the 3rd bowler ever to have taken 600 wickets in Tests. Though sadly, he could not continue much longer due to injuries and dip in form. Despite having said on the contrary, he decided to retire at Kotla in Australia’s return series. His last wicket was that of Mitchell Johnson, his 619^th victim.

IPL magic – Though Kumble was one of the more unnoticed players of IPL, he weaved his magic in the 2009 edition, a year after his international retirement. In the opening match of his team, he took a 5 wicket hall for just 5 runs. He ended up with 21 wickets in that edition, and led RCB to the finals. He retired from IPL in 2012.

111 and 54 – It was not just the number of wickets, but the quality opposition against which Anil Kumble took those wickets makes him such a legend. He has taken 111 Test wickets against Australia, the most against Australia by an Indian, and his best performance in the ODIs were reserved for matches involving Pakistan, against whom he took 54 wickets, highest by him against a single country in ODIs.

Captaincy record – After taking up the reins from Rahul Dravid, Kumble captained India for 14 Test matches. Though he had a modest record, with 3 victories, 5 losses and 6 draws, he famously led India to a morale boosting comeback victory against Australia in Perth, and for the 2nd time, India broke Australia’s record for 16 consecutive victories in Tests.

Major awards and honors:

• Arjuna Award – 1995
• Wisden Cricketer of the year – 1996
• Padma Shri – 2005
• Breakthrough performance of the year – 2009 IPL
• ICC Hall of fame – 2015