“Success is 99 percent perspiration….1 percent inspiration.” This is Thomas Alva Edison’s definition of the term ‘Genius’. Anil Kumble is one cricketer who fits into this definition undeniably and resoundingly.
I mean, how many bowlers have toiled on the field with a broken jaw? How many have bowled a staggering 72 overs in a test innings? How many have bowled with 11 stitches on their left hand? Yes, that’s Anil Kumble for you. No bowler in the history of Indian cricket has won India more matches than ‘Jumbo’, and nobody has ever played with as much passion as Kumble either.
Let’s take a look at 12 unknown facts about India’s greatest ever spinner.
1. Anil Kumble was born to K N Krishna Swamy and Saroja and is married to Chethana Ramatheertha. He married Chethana after her divorce and has a son Mayas and two daughters Aaruni and Svasti from Chethana’s previous marriage.
2. Kumble went to Holy Saint English School and completed his schooling from National High School in Bangalore. He didn’t let cricket disrupt his graduation and completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering.
3. All Kumble wanted to do in his childhood was to play cricket. ‘Jumbo’ joined Young Cricketers club at a tender age of 13.
4. Kumble played his first domestic match for Karnataka at the age of 19 against Hyderabad, 25 years back in 1989. How time flies!
5. Kumble is India’s most successful spinner, but very few know that Kumble initially began his career as a medium pacer!
6. Kumble held the record for being the fastest Indian bowler to reach 50 test wickets (in only 10 test matches) before Ravichandran Ashwin broke the record in 9 tests!
7. Against West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 1993, Kumble took 6 wickets for only 12 runs. It remains an Indian record.
8. Kumble holds the record for the maximum number of caught and bowled dismissals in tests, 25.
9. Kumble became only the second Indian bowler after Kapil Dev to take 400 test wickets. Legend!
10. Kumble is the only ever Indian bowler who has taken 5 wickets in a test innings on more than 30 occasions.
11. Kumble was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1995. He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the year in the year 1996. The Government of India presented ‘Jumbo’ with the Padma Shri in 2005.
12. He is only the 2nd bowler after England‘s Jim Laker to scalp all 10 wickets in a test innings. The 10 for 74 against Pakistan at the Feroze Shah Kotla in 1998 is hailed as the second best “Bowling performance of all time” by Wisden.
