No one can forget how Anil Kumble brought the fans at the Ferozshah Kotla, Delhi in 1999 on its knees with a history-making performance against arch-rivals Pakistan. It was the second Test match of the two-Test series and India had lost a close encounter in Chennai.

India had set the Pakistanis over 400 runs to win in the final innings of the Test. Incidentally, the first Test was supposed to be played in Delhi but was shifted to Chennai after some miscreants had dug up the pitch in protest of Pakistan touring India.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumble, who had picked four wickets in the first innings, it was the second innings when he had the cushion of a 420-run target behind him when he made the Pakistanis dance to his tunes.

“Sachin was the only polished batsman in Team India when I started,” says Shahid Afridi

Remembering that Test match, Shahid Afridi writes in his book,” Kumble was the pick of their bowling attack and took advantage of an inconsistent home umpire in the first Test, but also brilliantly used the pitch – paved courtesy of the Shiv Sena – to crush us for a perfect 10. Kumble wrapped up a series with 21 wickets at an average of 14.85. What a guy! Even though I was the highest scorer for Pakistan in that 2nd Test, I couldn’t fully dominate him in that series.”

His dig at Shiv Sena came because it was their workers who had dug up the pitch at the Kotla and made the BCCI shift the matches around. Meanwhile, Anil Kumble ended up picking 10/74 in 26.3 overs and bowled out Pakistan for 207 runs and won India the match by 212 runs.

With this feat, Kumble became only the second bowler in Test history to pick all ten wickets in a Test inning. Before him, Jim Laker of England picked 10/53 against Australia in 1956. Laker had also picked 9/37 in the first innings of that Test match and ended up with 19/90 in the match, the best figures by any bowler in Test match history.

(Indian Express inputs)