Anil Kumble: Top five cricketing moments

1. 10/74 vs Pakistan, Delhi, 1999

Jim Laker, the former England off-spinner, would have been pleased to have another slower bowler for company in an elite list of two. Sadly, he did not live to see this happen.

Now, Anil didn’t turn the ball as much as Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan. Yet, he was highly effective because of his subtle variations. Pakistan found this to their cost on a windy day at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla stadium.

Chasing 420 to win, openers Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi had already knocked off a century partnership in quick time. After lunch, everything went downhill.

Kumble removed Afridi courtesy an edge to the wicket-keeper, but the batsman remained miffed at the umpire’s decision. He then picked them off one by one, making the sub-standard pitch spit venom and pronounce doom upon every batsman that replaced the other.

Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh, who made 96 in India’s second innings in that game, recalls that speedster Javagal Srinath requested him not to try and take any catches off his bowling in order to ensure that his best friend got to the much-coveted landmark.

And he got there in grand style – dismissing the entrenched Wasim Akram to a bat-pad catch that sparked off major celebrations among the Indians. The series was tied, and Kumble was the hero.