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Anil Radhakrishna Kumble (born October 17, 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka) is an Indian cricketer and has been a member of the Indian cricket team since 1990. Kumble is currently the highest wicket-taker for India in one-day internationals and test matches.
Kumble is a right arm leg spinner. He has an unorthodox style of bowling and is most famous for his googly. He started his career as a medium pacer; this has given him a useful faster delivery. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the Australasia Cup on April 25, 1990. He also made his test debut in that year in India's tour of England in the second test. It was when India toured South Africa in 1992 that he established himself as a quality international spinner taking 8 wickets in the second test. Later that year, when England toured India, he took 21 wickets in just 3 test matches at an average of 19.8. He took his first 50 test wickets in just 10 test matches making him the only Indian bowler to do so. He went on to become the second fastest Indian bowler to reach 100 test wickets (in 21 test matches) after Erapalli Prasanna. On November 27, 1993, he took 6 wickets for 12 runs in an ODI against the West Indies at Calcutta, a new record for best bowling figures by an Indian, a record which has stayed for 10 years.
His performance in ODI cricket peaked in 1996, the year in which the World Cup was held in Asia, he took 61 ODI wickets at an average of 20.24 and an economy rate of 4.06.
Kumble is one of only two bowlers ever (the other being Jim Laker) to have taken all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Kumble achieved this against Pakistan in the second test played in New Delhi, India between 4 February and 8 February 1999. It has been said that once he got 9 wickets; his friend and teammate Javagal Srinath tried not to take a wicket so Kumble could take 10th.
On 6 October, 2004, Anil Kumble became only the third spinner in the history of test cricket (after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan) and second Indian bowler (after Kapil Dev) to have captured 400 test wickets. He took 30 fewer test matches than Kapil Dev to reach the mark. He also took 7 fewer tests than Shane Warne to reach the mark. He is one of only 2 Indian bowlers (the other being Javagal Srinath) and one of only 2 spinners (the other being Muralitharan) to have taken over 300 ODI wickets.
On December 10th, 2004, Anil Kumble became India's highest wicket taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 434 wickets.
He is also one of 3 spinners (other two again being Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan) and the only Indian bowler ever to have taken 5 wickets in a test innings 25 times and taken 10 wickets in a match 6 times. Both his test bowling average of 27.95 and his ODI bowling average which is above 30 are considered to be high compared to other great bowlers. He is known to be a much better bowler when bowling in India compared to when bowling outside India. He is also one of 4 Indian bowlers to have conceded over 250 runs in a test match, although he took 12 wickets in that match. He is known for going on bowling tirelessly, once having bowled 72 overs in a test innings.
His Test batting average is a good (for a lower order batsmen) 16.54, however his unconvincing running in ODIs, leading to a fairly ordinary average of 10.62, has stopped him from becoming a genuine cricketing all-rounder. His fielding is decent but not outstanding.
Kumble has largely evaded the general public's eye throughout his career, but his work for the Indian cricket team is invaluable. He is perhaps India's best current spinner in a side which is starting to seriously consider fast bowling as a viable attacking option.
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