Anil Kumble is the leading wicket-taker for India in Tests (619) and ODIs (337) and in a career that lasted from 1990-2008, he bowled to some of the best batting lineups of his era which had batsmen of amazing calibers from teams like England, Australia, the West Indies, Pakistan and even Zimbabwe.
Talking to former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa, Anil Kumble, who battled the likes of Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, and Jacques Kallis, revealed the toughest batsman he ever bowled to.
"Became very difficult when I was compared with Muralitharan and Warne," says Anil Kumble
He named the ‘Prince of Trinidad’ Brian Lara as the best batsman he ever played against. “There were many batsmen who were very difficult to bowl at. Brian Lara was probably at the top,” Kumble said.
“He had four different shots to every delivery that you bowled and that was the biggest challenge, you thought you could beat him, you would get him but then he would change his shot and sort of tap you through third man,” Kumble added.
In the 14 Test matches that he has played against the West Indian left-hander, Kumble has got him out five times. The most famous dismissal came in the 2002 Antigua Test, when a spirited Kumble returned to bowl despite getting his jaw broken while batting by Mervyn Dillon. 
Kumble then got rid of Brian Lara much to the dismay of the batsman and agony of his teammates.
The tall leg-spinner had a storied career for the Indian team, playing 132 Tests and 272 ODIs and captaining the Test team from 2007-2008. He was the highest wicket-taker in the 1996 Wills World Cup and feels fortunate not to bowl against his teammates, which had batsmen like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman.
Harbhajan Singh names Anil Kumble as "the greatest match-winner India has ever produced"
“Fortunately most of them were a part of my team. It was very good that I had Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Sehwag - all these guys in the nets rather than thinking in the previous evening that I have to bowl at these guys in a match,” Kumble said.
