No bowler in history won India more Test matches than Anil Kumble, and there probably hasn't been a harder trier either. Like the great tall wristspinners Bill O'Reilly and his own idol BS Chandrasekhar, Kumble traded the legspinner's proverbial yo-yo for a spear, as the ball hacked through the air rather than hanging in it and came off the pitch with a kick rather than a kink. The method provided him stunning success, particularly on Indian soil, where his deliveries burst like packets of water upon the feeblest hint of a crack, and more than one modern-day batsman remarked that there was no more difficult challenge in cricket than handling Kumble on a wearing surface.
Career statistics
Test debut England v India at Manchester, Aug 9-14, 1990
Last Test India v Australia at Delhi, Oct 29-Nov 2, 2008
ODI debut India v Sri Lanka at Sharjah, Apr 25, 1990
Last ODI Bermuda v India at Port of Spain, Mar 19, 2007
First-class debut 1989/90
Last First-class India v Australia at Delhi, Oct 29-Nov 2, 2008
List A debut 1989/90
Last List A Bermuda v India at Port of Spain, Mar 19, 2007
Twenty20 debut Gloucestershire v Surrey at Bristol, Jul 24, 2006
Last Twenty20 Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians at Bangalore, May 28, 2008
Matches Wickets Avge., Econ., 5WI 10WI
Tests 132 619 29.65 2.69 35 8
ODIs 271 337 30.89 4.30 2 0
IstClass 244 1136 25.83 2.63 72 19
20/20 12 11 31.81 7.58 0 0
10 Wickets in an Innings : 2nd in the world.
He has served the Indian cricket for 18 years not only as a great cricketer also as a great human being without any controversies, he is a role model not only to a cricketers but for every human beings.
Its interesting in his retirement speech, he said -
It took lot of efforts for him to disprove many critics., as it for Sachin Tendulkar to prove about his predictions.
For his retirement speech :
http://youtube.com/watch?v=00aFOw5bNJo
Hats off to Anil....
