Anil Kumble: Top five cricketing moments

4. Antigua Test – grit in the face of pain

I do not know if the current crop of Indian cricketers would have done what the Bangalore tweaker did at the Antigua Test of 2002: display unflinching grit in the face of terrible pain.

Batting at No.7, Kumble was hit hard by a rising delivery from West Indies pacer Mervyn Dillon. He spat out blood – the blow had led to a fracture of the lower jaw. After getting some on-field treatment, he quietly went back to bat for another twenty minutes before being dismissed.

In such a situation, one would have expected the 32-year old to remain off the field for the rest of the day. However, when he saw the Caribbean batsmen piling on the runs and Sachin Tendulkar, of all people, getting a large amount of turn from a rather benign track, he couldn’t take it any more.

Sourav Ganguly was stunned and shocked beyond measure when he saw his champion bowler menace his way on to the field, his jaw heavily strapped in place. Without a word, the skipper tossed Kumble the ball, and Jumbo responded by bagging the wicket of key batsman Brian Lara. Not just content with that wicket, the leg spinner even troubled Carl Hooper, almost dismissing him twice.

It was perhaps the most gruelling 14 over-spell that the veteran spinner sent down, and the jaw did not prevent him from appealing in his usual vociferous way. He eventually succumbed to medical counsel and walked off with pride. The game was drawn, and Kumble’s deed was immortalized in the annals of cricket forever.