THE BEST OF JUMBO

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi [February, 1999].

On February 7, 1999, Anil Kumble took the cricketing world by storm when he emerged as the second bowler, after England's Jim Laker (1956), to take ten wickets in a single Test Inning—and that too against Pakistan in a match that mattered significantly. In the second Test in Delhi, the Karnataka spinner posted figures of 4/75 and 10/74 as India won the match by 212 runs and levelled the series 1-1. In the second innings of the second Test, Kumble completely blew the Pakistani Batting lineup, making history that will never be erased from the cricketing books. At Manchester's Old Trafford, Laker became the first player to accomplish the feat, recording figures of 10/53 against Australia. After 33 years Kumble became the second one. 

It is pertinent to note that India lost the first Test of the two-match series in Chennai by a mere 12-run margin. At the time, the Indian cricket team was in a must-win scenario and was under intense scrutiny. In Delhi, Mohammad Azharuddin, the captain of India, won the toss and chose to bat first. However Wasim Akram with his incredible bowling reduced the hosts for mere 252 runs in their first innings.  Unfortunately, Pakistan too were unable to mount a strong defense because Kumble (4/75) and Harbhajan Singh (3/30) ruined the celebration for them. Shahid Afridi (32) was the leading run scorer for the Pakistanis as the visitors managed to score mere 172 runs in their first innings.

Thanks to solid scores of 96 from Sadagoppan Ramesh and 62* from Sourav Ganguly, India ended up scoring 339 runs in their second innings after gaining an impressive lead from the first innings, Although Saqlain Mushtaq claimed a fifer, the opposition was looking at a huge target of 420 runs.

Pakistan's openers got off to a good start, scoring 110 runs together between Saeed Anwar and Afridi before Kumble removed Afridi to end the standoff. At that point, the Indian spinner in Delhi took matters into his own hands and worked magic. Ijaz Ahmed was bowled out in the very next delivery as Kumble clean bowled the dangerous Inzamam-ul-Haq for six in the 28th over. The carnage in Kotla continued as Kumble dismissed Mohammad Yousuf, Moin Khan and Saeed Anwar in quick succession as the visitors were reduced to 128/6. Skipper Akram persisted, but Kumble kept on chipping wickets on the other end.  Eventually the Pakistanis were bowled out for 207 runs as Kumble ended the innings with a figure of 10/74. 

(Postscript- On December 4, 2021, in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, a seemingly impossible feat was repeated when Ajaz Patel of New Zealand joined the ranks. The spinner became the third bowler in history to take ten wickets in an innings against India.)

To watch the spell of Anil Kumble, Click Here.