Anil Kumble: The only centurion amongst top 5 wicket-takers in Tests
There’s very little doubt that Anil Kumble is the greatest bowler India have ever produced if not in world cricket. Jumbo, as he’s popularly known, has picked up 619 wickets from 132 Tests with 35 five-wicket hauls and eight 10-wicket hauls. Along with Harbhajan Singh, the leg-spin bowler gave the best of batting line-ups a run for their money during his playing career.
He is currently fourth in the list of all-time highest wicket-takers in Test cricket after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, Australia’s Shane Warne and England’s James Anderson. In fact, Kumble slipped from third to fourth after Anderson surpassed him during the recently-concluded Brits’ opening Test against India at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Anil Kumble’s numbers as a batter
Even as his bowling prowess was worth cherishing, his batting abilities can’t be undermined by any means. In the purest format, Kumble scored 2506 runs at an average of 17.77 with one century and five half-centuries. In fact, he is the only cricketer in the list of top-five Test wicket-takers to have notched a ton in red-ball cricket. He achieved the feat back in 2007.
During a Test match against England at the Kennington Oval in London, Kumble gave an account of his batting potential. After India elected to bat first, Kumble scored an unbeaten 193-ball 110 while batting at number eight. His knock was laced with 16 fours and one six and India went on to score 664 runs in the first innings. Kumble also has two Test scores in the 80s.
He also picked up five wickets in the match, helping the visiting team eke out a draw. Kumble went on to become the Player of the Match in that encounter 14 years ago. In the top wicket-takers list, Warne came the closest to scoring a century.
The veteran has scored 12 half-centuries with a top score of 99 against New Zealand at the WACA in Perth back in 2008. Warne remains the most successful leg-spinner to have played the game. As far as Kumble is concerned, he also picked 337 scalps in ODIs.
