Jumbo Performances - Top 10 Test bowling performances of Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble has undoubtedly been the biggest match winner in India’s Test cricket history. He has given several memorable performances in the Test arena over the years. While the general cricket public, and in particular the Indian ones, talk highly of his 10 wicket performance against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999, there are myriad other performances Kumble delivered over the years which resulted in many memorable victories and great results for India. This list is an attempt towards ranking his 10 best performances in the Test arena.

The ranking parameters which have been used to rank the individual bowling performances are the following:

1. Impact of performance on the match and the series

2. Quality of opposition’s batting line-up

3. Quality of the wickets taken

4. Nature of the track

# 10: 6/53 vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 1992

Anil Kumble vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 1992

South Africa had taken a lead of 65 runs in the first innings and were on a mission to score quick runs in their second innings to give enough time to their bowlers to bowl India out. However they were choked on the fourth day by Kumble’s bowling and could never break free.

Kumble clean bowled six South African bastmen as they were unable to face his fast top spin deliveries coming out of the rough. He gave away only 53 runs in 44 overs, as South Arica were bowled out for 252 in 118 overs. India batted out the 82 overs left on the last day and saved the Test match.

# 9: 6/64 vs England, Chennai, 1993

Anil Kumble vs England, Chennai, 1993

England were already under pressure having lost the first Test of the series in Mumbai. And things got worse here, with India scoring a mammoth 560 in their first innings. The spin trio of Kumble, Rajesh Chauhan and Venkatapathy Raju worked beautifully in tandem and bowled England out for 286 in their first innings.

Following on, England faced a rampaging Kumble, who was almost impossible to face on a wearing track. Kumble took 6 wickets in 21 overs, as England succumbed to their worst ever defeat against India. It was Kumble’s first 5-wicket haul on home soil, and it gave a glimpse of how deadly the leg spinner was going to prove on Indian soil.

# 8: 6/78 vs West Indies, Kingston, 2006

Anil Kumble vs West Indies, 2006

On a spiteful pitch, where batsmen from both sides struggled to make runs, West Indies were set a difficult target of 269 runs to win the Test match as well as the series. For India it was a chance to win a Test series in West Indies after a long gap.

S Sreesanth produced a good opening spell to get both the openers out. Kumble then struck a vital blow with the wicket of Shivnarine Chaderpaul who was out LBW to a flighted delivery. Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo had a good partnership and were putting pressure back on the Indian bowlers when both got out in quick succession, with Kumble accounting for Bravo.

The West Indies lower order put up a good fight, but Kumble broke through whenever any partnership threatened India. He finished with a 6-wicket haul and led India to their first series victory in West Indies for 35 years.

# 7: 6/72 vs Pakistan, Multan, 2004

Anil Kumble vs Pakistan, 2004

On a flat Multan deck, India had scored 675 in their first innings, courtesy Virender Sehwag’s triple century. Pakistan were bowled out for 407 in their first innings. Following on, Pakistan needed an even bigger effort from their batsmen to save the Test match.

Kumble though had different ideas. He again bowled a stifling line and choked the Pakistan batsmen into errors. The Pakistan openers went into a very defensive mindset and Kumble simply preyed on their weaknesses. He dismissed both the opening batsmen cheaply and set the tone for the rest of the innings.

Pakistan were dismissed for 216 in their second innings with Kumble finishing with a 6-wicket haul. India won their first ever Test in Pakistan and took a 1-0 lead in the series, and later went on to win the three match series 2-1.

# 6: 8/141 vs Australia, Sydney, 2004

Anil Kumble vs Australia, 2004

India scored a mammoth 705 in the first innings. The Aussies added 147 for the first wicket when Kumble struck. He used his variations beautifully to bamboozle many batsmen with changes of pace and length.

Especially crafty was the way Kumble dismissed Ricky Ponting. Kumble set him up with four leg breaks in a row at around 85 kmph before slipping in a fast straight one at 100 kmph which caught Ponting plumb in front of the wicket. The wicket was very flat but Kumble spun his magic to take eight wickets and Australia were dismissed 231 runs behind India’s first innings score.

The match was drawn and with it the series was also tied at 1-1, with India regaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

# 5: 6/72 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi, 2005

Anil Kumble vs Sri Lanka, 2005

On what was not a typical Kotla wicket, India found themselves in big trouble on the second morning of the Test match, with Muttiah Muralitharan spinning a web of magic around its batsmen. India slipped from 254/3 to be all out for 290 in their first innings.

Marvan Attapattu and Mahela Jayawardene put Sri Lanka on top, and seemingly on course for their first Test victory on Indian soil. Sri Lanka were in a dominant position at 175/2 and seemed poised to take a big first innings lead. The pitch lacked bounce and Kumble went wicketless for a big part of the day.

However Kumble as usual didn’t give up and waited for his opportunity, which came with Jayawardene going for a suicidal sweep and missing to be out LBW. Thereafter, Kumble ripped through the Sri Lankan middle order in a ravening display of spin bowling on a flat deck. Sri Lanka lost 4 wickets for 23 runs and slipped from 175/2 to 198/6. They never recovered from this and India went on to win the match comfortably. Kumble picked up his eighth 10-wicket haul in tests.

# 4: 5/84 vs Australia, Melbourne, 2007

Anil Kumble vs Australia, 2007

In only the second instance in the last 70 years of a spinner taking 5 wickets on the first day of a Melbourne Test, Kumble spun a web around the Australian bastmen with his googlies and leg breaks.

As had been the case for Kumble throughout his career, the Indian quicks failed to make any breakthroughs on a pitch conducive to fast bowling. Australia motored along to 135 for the first wicket, when Kumble struck with a fizzing googly past Phil Jaques. The dismissals of Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist were beautifully planned ones, especially Gilchrist who was fooled by a googly beyond his reach.

Kumble controlled the Aussie run flow throughout the day and struck vital blows all along to put India in a position of superiority at the end of the first day. As usual again on foreign soil, the Indian batsmen failed to take advantage of that on the second day and India lost the Test match.

# 3: 7/63 vs Pakistan, Kolkata, 2005

Anil Kumble vs Pakistan, 2005

Pakistan had shown great fight and resilience in the first Test of the series at Mohali to draw the match from a seemingly lost position. They were only 41 runs ahead when they lost six of their wickets in the second innings, and a defeat seemed imminent. However Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq played out of their skins to have a 200-run partnership and helped Pakistan escape with a draw.

Coming into the second Test at Kolkata, India were under great pressure from all ends. On an Eden pitch which wasn’t anywhere close to unplayable, Pakistan faced a target of 422 runs to win the Test match. Shahid Afridi and Taufeeq Umar gave Pakistan a great start scoring 93 runs in only 18.5 overs, when Kumble struck with the wicket of Shahid Afridi.

Pakistan had one of their strongest ever batting line ups with Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana in the middle order. Coming into the final day, Pakistan needed 327 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand. Kumble got Younis Khan out on the very first ball of the day with a cleverly planned stumping on the leg side. Inzamam-Ul-Haq never felt at ease against a rampaging Kumble, who finally bowled him to get him out for the seventh time in eight Test matches.

None of Pakistan’s batsmen could play Kumble with any assurance. Kumble ran through the Pakistan batting line-up, finishing with 7 wickets for 63 runs in 38 overs of choking line and length bowling. India won the Test by 195 runs, taking an unassailable 1-0 lead in the 3-Test match series.

# 2: 7/48 vs Australia, Chennai, 2004

Anil Kumble vs Australia, 2004

On a first day Chennai track, Australia had raced to a good start and looked set for a big first innings score at 136 for no loss. The pitch had a little bit of bounce in it, but not much spin, being a first day track. Harbhajan Singh got both openers out, after which Simon Katich and Damian Martyn had a good partnership, which took the score to 189 for2.

It was then that Kumble produced one of the greatest spells of spin bowling ever seen on a first day track. In a mesmerizing spell of 10 overs, Kumble took 7 Aussie wickets for 25 runs, and Australia slumped from 189/2 to be 235 all out. It was one of the biggest batting collapses ever seen on a first day pitch.

Most batsmen couldn’t control the bounce from Kumble’s deliveries and were caught by close in fielders. Adam Gilchrist said that it was one of the greatest bowling spells he had ever seen, and compared it to Curtly Ambrose’s spell of 7/1 at Perth.

India dominated the rest of the Test match and needed 229 runs on the last day to win the Test match. Unfortunately the rain washed out the last day of the Test and a great match ended in a draw.

# 1: 10/74 vs Pakistan, Delhi, 1999

Anil Kumble vs Pakistan, Delhi, 1999

This was the second and final Test of the 2-match series between India and Pakistan. India having lost the first Test at Chennai were under some pressure. Add to this the fact that they had not beaten Pakistan in a Test match for 20 years. India needed to win the match to keep their proud unbeaten record at home in the 1990s.

The Kotla pitch was a slow turner, and the track got slower with time, providing batsmen more time to handle the spin as the match went on. In their first innings, Pakistan were dismissed 80 runs behind India’s first innings score of 252. India batted well in their second innings and set Pakistan a target of 420 to win. Pakistan openers started well taking the score to 100 without loss.

Enter Anil Kumble. Kumble produced what is arguably the greatest modern day bowling performance in Test cricket, taking all the 10 Pakistan wickets. Kumble made the ball fizz and bounce and no Pakistan batsmen looked in any sort of rhythm facing him. It wasn’t as if the wicket was bad to bat on or anything, as on the same wicket, Harbhajan Singh bowled 18 overs without a wicket.

The slowness of the track simply didn’t affect Kumble as he went on a rampage. The Pakistan batting line was arguably their best ever with the likes of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Saleem Malik and Ijaz Ahmed in the team. However, none of them could stop the Kumble onslaught that day.

Pakistan were bowled out for 207 and India won the Test by 212 runs to draw the series 1-1. This bowling performance was rated by Wisden as the second best bowling performance of all time.