Celebrating Anil Kumble's 'Perfect Ten' against Pakistan

On this day 21 years ago, Anil Kumble became only the second bowler after England’s Jim Laker to claim all the 10 wicket in a single Test innings. The spinner’s 10/74 in 26.3 overs helped India claim their biggest Test win over arch-rivals Pakistan.

This was a must-win game for India after they lost the first of the two-match series in Chennai. The Indian bowlers bundled out Pakistan for 172 after posting 252 in the first innings. Leading on, Sadgopan Ramesh (96) and Sourav Ganguly (62*) helped post a target of 420 for the visitors.

10 for 74! 😯Yes, you read it right. 😅 #OnThisDay in 1999, @anilkumble1074's 'Jumbo' effort crowned him the 2nd man to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Bonus: It gave #TeamIndia their first Test victory against 🇵🇰 after 23 previous tries! pic.twitter.com/7sS3JAqJpF

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 7, 2020

Also see – Women’s T20 world cup most wickets

In the chase of 420 runs, Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar took Pakistan to 101/0 at lunch. But once Afridi was dismissed, wickets kept falling one after the other, courtesy Kumble’s flippers.

"A 'Perfect Ten' isn't something you set out to achieve as a cricketer. I would attribute the events of 7th February 1999 to destiny," Kumble had told BCCI in 2014.

The 49-year-old played 132 Tests from India from which he took 619 wickets – which remains the highest by an Indian in red-ball cricket. In 271 ODIs, Kumble took 337 wickets.

After retirement he has worked as a coach in the Indian Premier League and was also Indian cricket team’s head coach from 2017-18.