Anil Kumble

Anil Radhakrishna Kumble is a professional Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian National team. He is a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-hand batsman. In both Test and One day internationals he is at present the leading wicket taker. He has taken more than 600 wickets in Test cricket.

He made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad in November 1989 taking 4 wickets. Basically he is a right arm leg spinner who has an unorthodox style and is well known for his flipper. In the initial part of this career he was a medium pacer and hence he can bowl a useful faster delivery. Rather than spinning the ball he relies more on bounce, variations and precision. He was chosen in the India Under-19s when they played against Pakistan Under-19s and in the first Test he scored 113 while in the second Test he scored 76. His One day International debut took place on 25 April 1990 in the Australasia Cup at Sharjah against Sri Lanka.

When England toured India in 1992 in the three Test matches he took 21 wickets at an average of 19.8. In the initial 10 matches he took his first 50 wickets and this is the quickest way in which an Indian bowler has reaches this milestone.

Kumble had an overall consistent career from 1995 to 2005. On June 11 2006, Kumble passed Courtney Walsh on 520 Test wickets to take 4th place. After returning to India from the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he announced his retirement from ODI Cricket on March 30, 2007.

Major achievements

In 1995 he won the Arjuna Award which is a sports award from the Government of India.

In 1996 he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

In 2005 he was awarded a civilian award from the Government of India called as Padma Shri.

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