Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble

India

Full name Anil Kumble
Born October 17, 1970, Bangalore, Karnataka
Current age 36 years 134 days
Major teams India, ACC Asian XI, Karnataka, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Surrey
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly

Statsguru

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	113	146	27	2049	88	17.21	5342	38.35	0	4	242	8	50	0
ODIs	270	136	47	938	26	10.53	1536	61.06	0	0	57	6	85	0
First-class	220	285	56	5081	154*	22.18			6	16			108	0
List A	379	203	73	1456	30*	11.20			0	0			122	0
Twenty20	2	1	0	8	8	8.00	7	114.28	0	0			0	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10
Tests	113	35694	15675	547	10/74	14/149	28.65	2.63	65.25	28	33	8
ODIs	270	14441	10374	334	6/12	6/12	31.05	4.31	43.23	8	2	0
First-class	220	60917	26196	1046	10/74		25.04	2.58	58.23		70	19
List A	379	20192	14140	511	6/12	6/12	27.67	4.20	39.51	14	3	0
Twenty20	2	47	46	4	2/20	2/20	11.50	5.87	11.75	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	England v India at Manchester - Aug 9-14, 1990
Last Test	South Africa v India at Cape Town - Jan 2-6, 2007
ODI debut	India v Sri Lanka at Sharjah - Apr 25, 1990
Last ODI	India v Sri Lanka at Rajkot - Feb 11, 2007
First-class span	1989/90 - 2006/07
List A span	1989/90 - 2006/07
Twenty20 span	2006

Notes

Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1996

Profile

No bowler in India's history has won more Test matches than Anil Kumble, and there probably hasn't been a harder trier either. Unorthodox, he trades the legspinner's proverbial yo-yo for a spear, as the ball hacks through the air rather than hanging in it, then comes off the pitch with a kick rather than a kink. He does not beat the bat as much as hit the splice, but it's a method that has provided him with stunning success, particularly on Indian soil, where his deliveries burst like packets of water on the feeblest hint of a crack. He is resilient and untiring, and a big legbreak would have made him perfect, just like the ten-in-an-innings he took in a Test against Pakistan.

For most of his career Kumble struggled to make an impact outside India, but he turned that around magnificently in Australia in 2003-04, winkling out an incredible 24 wickets in three Test matches. Three months later, his 6 for 71 on a flat pitch at Multan helped India win a Test in Pakistan for the first time. Then, he had more success in the West Indies in 2006, taking 23 wickets in four Tests, including a match haul of 7 for 110 in the last Test in Jamaica which helped India achieve their first series win there in 35 years.

Kumble's batting average in Tests makes him something of a bowling allrounder, though in the one-day game his nervy running between the wickets has negated hindered him. He catches well, often at gully, though his movements were once described by a commentator as those of "a man on stilts".

In December 2001, on his home turf at Bangalore, Kumble became India's second bowler, and their first spinner, to take 300 Test wickets. A year later, almost to the day, he passed the same mark in one-dayers. Against Australia in 2004-05 he pushed the Test mark past 400 - also at Bangalore - then skittled the Aussies in the next Test at Chennai with a spell of 7 for 25. In March 2006, He became the first Indian bowler to reach 500 Test wickets, when he trapped Steve Harmison lbw in the Mohali Test.

Superstardom was to elude the low-profile Kumble throughout his career, but his deeds speak for themselves. He was written off as a one-day bowler but returned a few months before the 2007 World Cup for what is likely to be his one-day swansong