Jumbo Performances - Top 10 Test bowling performances of Anil Kumble

# 1: 10/74 vs Pakistan, Delhi, 1999

Anil Kumble vs Pakistan, Delhi, 1999

This was the second and final Test of the 2-match series between India and Pakistan. India having lost the first Test at Chennai were under some pressure. Add to this the fact that they had not beaten Pakistan in a Test match for 20 years. India needed to win the match to keep their proud unbeaten record at home in the 1990s.

The Kotla pitch was a slow turner, and the track got slower with time, providing batsmen more time to handle the spin as the match went on. In their first innings, Pakistan were dismissed 80 runs behind India’s first innings score of 252. India batted well in their second innings and set Pakistan a target of 420 to win. Pakistan openers started well taking the score to 100 without loss.

Enter Anil Kumble. Kumble produced what is arguably the greatest modern day bowling performance in Test cricket, taking all the 10 Pakistan wickets. Kumble made the ball fizz and bounce and no Pakistan batsmen looked in any sort of rhythm facing him. It wasn’t as if the wicket was bad to bat on or anything, as on the same wicket, Harbhajan Singh bowled 18 overs without a wicket.

The slowness of the track simply didn’t affect Kumble as he went on a rampage. The Pakistan batting line was arguably their best ever with the likes of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Saleem Malik and Ijaz Ahmed in the team. However, none of them could stop the Kumble onslaught that day.

Pakistan were bowled out for 207 and India won the Test by 212 runs to draw the series 1-1. This bowling performance was rated by Wisden as the second best bowling performance of all time.