Pakistan, Ferozeshah Kotla, 1999, Kumble… and the Perfect Ten. The leg-spinner had accomplished what only England’s Jim Laker had achieved before, writes S. Dinakar who traces Kumble’s top 10 performances in Test cricket.
The 10 best by India’s Perfect Ten man are hard to pick; Anil Kumble has been the architect of so many Indian triumphs in a career of wickets and wins.
Yet, an effort has been made to select his 10 finest bowling performances in Tests, in the context of what each one of these displays meant to the country and Kumble.
In several senses, Johannesburg, 1992, was the beginning of his journey as a spin spearhead. Kumble’s six for 53 in the second innings at the Wanderers proved a turning point for the spinner. He almost bowled India to a historic first Test victory on South African soil.
At this point in his career, Kumble was not quite the versatile bowler that he evolved into. Still, the bounce he could extract from almost any surface marked him out as someone special.
The tall bowler’s arm was high, the wrist was in the right position and he could impart plenty of top-spin on the ball. The deliveries climbed on the batsmen from a length.
When the batsmen pressed forward, they were in danger of being held in the close catching positions. Kumble also showed the other qualities of his bowling — the ability to bowl long spells and consistently land the ball in the right areas.
Kumble soon eased into the role of the destroyer during the home season. On dry, spinner-friendly pitches, Kumble hounded Graham Gooch’s Englishmen in 1993.
On deteriorating pitches of variable bounce, he was more than a handful for the Englishmen. Here was a spinner who was quicker through the air, did not spin the ball much but bowled a great length; pushing forward was hazardous since one of the deliveries could take off and bounce off the glove or the top half of the willow. And there was always the danger of the ball shooting through if the batsmen moved back.
Kumble exploited the conditions, bowling wicket-to-wicket, and not giving the batsmen room or the width for the horizontal bat shots. Much of his bowling was about creating pressure.
The leg-spinner’s six for 64 in the second innings of the Test in Chennai (’93) took him into the centre-stage as a spin force. Kumble’s bite and venom cut all escape routes for England and India’s biggest match-winner was born.
This was a phase when Kumble was a leader of a spin trio that also comprised left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju and off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan. Skipper Mohammed Azharuddin confidence’s in Kumble was not without reason; the young man backed his ability with belief.
Kumble grew in stature. By the time Mark Taylor’s Aussies toured India in 1998, he was a more complete bowler. Mark Waugh had little clue about the vicious top-spinner that rearranged his stumps at Chepauk.
By now, Kumble had developed a potent googly. His match-winning four for 103 and four for 46 against a quick-footed bunch of Aussie batsmen won the Test for India at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. The quality of his bowling in this Test spoke more than his tally of wickets.
This was the period that Kumble formed a wonderful pace-spin combination with Javagal Srinath. The two grew up in Karnataka, played domestic cricket together, jelled well. Srinath would strike with the new ball, Kumble would then make inroads. And both Kumble, with his fizzy spin, and, Srinath, getting the ball to reverse, were extremely good against the tail.
Of course, Kumble continued to probe and consume the specialists as well. And he bowled himself into cricketing immortality.
Pakistan, Ferozeshah Kotla, 1999, Kumble… and the Perfect Ten. The leg-spinner had accomplished what only England’s Jim Laker had achieved before.
Kumble comprehended every inch of a wearing Kotla pitch. His accuracy was exemplary and he retained his intensity levels right through his spell when the Pakistanis batted a second time. The right amount of turn, bounce and the lack of it did the Pakistanis in. Crucially, his mind was unburdened by the pressures of approaching a major landmark.
Indeed, Kumble possessed the strength of mind, on the field of play or while recovering from injuries. His six for 81 against England at Mohali in 2001 was another defining performance by the ace spinner. The Test-clinching display marked his complete recovery from a worrying shoulder injury that required surgery. He was bowling to a good rhythm again, his mind and body were in harmony. Indian cricket heaved a sigh of relief.
While the leg-spinner was a terminator on Indian surfaces, he pulled his weight away from the sub-continent as well. Kumble’s three for 93 and four for 60 at Leeds in 2002 were priceless efforts of precision and craft.
This was quite the perfect Test for India. The side batted big and then dismissed England twice with the spinners — Kumble combined effectively with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh — assuming the lead role at a venue normally considered a paradise for pacemen.
But then, the compulsions of forging an effective attack on pitches away from the sub-continent meant that Kumble — at least for a phase — had to fight it out with Harbhajan for the spot of the lone spinner in the eleven. These were also days when the Indian pace attack had greater depth and options.
On the eventful Australian tour of 2003-04, Harbhajan was handed the lone spinner’s role ahead of Kumble at the beginning of the series. Soon, the off-spinner was dogged by fitness concerns paving the way for the leg-spinning ace’s return.
Kumble displayed his entire repertoire down under. He had disappointed on the tour of Australia in 1999, trying too hard on pitches with bounce that should have suited him. This time around, Kumble appeared relaxed, bowled with clever and subtle variations.
This was a series where he bowled a touch slower through the air, varied his pace and trajectory and released from or behind different points of the crease. The flipper — Kumble took a while to develop this delivery that skidded off the pitch — was also employed well by the Karnataka bowler. He dismissed batsmen with bounce and spin, lured them into fatal mistakes.
Kumble’s five for 154 off 43 lion-hearted overs in the Australian first innings at Adelaide was a huge factor in the eventual Indian win; his bowling kept India in the hunt. In the final Test at the SCG, Kumble’s eight for 141 and four for 138 took India close to a series triumph before skipper Steve Waugh, in his final Test, saved the day for Australia.
When Australia toured India in 2004, Kumble was at the peak of his abilities. The leg-spinner also silenced those who believed that he revelled only on wearing pitches. His seven for 48 on a first day wicket at Chepauk saw Kumble slicing through a formidable Australian line-up. He exploited an element of bounce in the track, hardly gave any room for the Aussies to manoeuvre, was relentless in his pursuit.
Earlier in the year, his six for 72 in the second innings on a good batting pitch in Multan against Pakistan had been an exceptional effort for a different reason. Kumble, grappling with a shoulder injury, entered the first Test of a historic series with hardly any match practice. He did not take long to discover his rhythm, control and his match-winning ways.
His duels with Pakistani batsmen made compelling viewing. His match of wits and skills against Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammed Yousuf — the two batsmen use the crease beautifully — were high on skill and persistence. To his credit, Kumble delivered against the wristy batsmen from across the border. It was Kumble’s changes in length and bounce that undid the Pakistanis.
Kumble continued to impress away from home. He was deadly in the second innings of the final Test at Sabina Park in 2006. Kumble’s six for 78 — he ripped through the Caribbeans in the decisive fourth innings after the pacemen had delivered the early blows — helped India record a historic series triumph in the West Indies. He was the man for the big occasion, home or away.
He is, indeed, the biggest match-winner in the history of Indian cricket. Kumble was a spinner with end-game skills.
Kumble's Top Ten1. Ten for 74 vs Pakistan in New Delhi, 1999.2. Seven for 48 vs Australia, Chennai, 2004.3. Eight for 141 vs Australia, Sydney, 2004.4. Six for 72 vs Pakistan, Multan, 2004.5. Six for 78 vs West Indies, Kingston, 2006.6. Six for 53 vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 1992.
7. Five for 154 vs Australia, Adelaide, 2003.8. Three for 93 & four for 60, vs England, Leeds, 2002.
9. Six for 64 vs England, Chennai, 1993.10.Six for 81 vs England, Mohali, 2001.
Comments
SHARE