In Pics: Newbie to Captain to Coach, Tracing Anil Kumble’s Career

From 14 to 48, tracing Anil Kumble’s career in pictures.

India’s most successful bowler, Anil ‘Jumbo’ Kumble was born on 17 October, 48 years back.

In the 27 years since he made his India debut, Kumble has had many career highs –from taking all 10 wickets in a Test innings to dismissing Brian Lara with a broken jaw, to becoming India’s coach at 45.

To celebrate his birthday, here’s a look at the man’s tryst with cricket in just a few pictures.

Anil, more popularly known as ‘Jumbo’, began playing cricket in his hometown, Bengaluru. At the age of 13, he joined a club called ‘Young Cricketers’.

Here Kumble is seen with the first bat he won and the Shivcharan Lal Trophy.

Kumble made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 1990. Just a few months later, he was selected to go on his first full tour to England where he made his Test debut in August 1990.

New Zealand’s Martin Crowe was Kumble’s 100th wicket in October 1995 at his hometown, Bengaluru.

Crossing this landmark made me feel that I had begun to establish myself both in the team and the international circuit.

Anil Kumble

Establishing himself as a quality spinner over the years, Kumble reached the 50 Test wickets mark in just 10 matches. On 7 February 1999, Kumble took a memorable 10 wickets out of 10 in a Test innings at the Kotla stadium against Pakistan.

Having picked up Wasim Akram as the 10th victim and being carried off the ground by my teammates after that victory remains the highlight of my career.

Anil Kumble

Remembering Jumbo, without remembering the time when a heavily strapped Anil Kumble nursing a broken jaw bowled against West Indies at the Antigua Test in 2002, is impossible. The match ended in a draw but his indomitable spirit on the occasion is one from the archives.

It was a “very special series as it was the first full series with Pakistan for most of us,” said Anil Kumble, of India’s 2003-04 tour of Pakistan. And the “icing on the cake” was winning the five-match ODI series 3-2 and the three-match test series 2-1.

In the 2006 West Indies series Kumble bowled India to a historic series victory in the Caribbean, 35 years after they last did so under Ajit Wadekar.

My daughter Svasti was born two days after the Jamaica Test and it was great to rush back home for the special occasion. This may have been the incentive to finish the match early!

Anil Kumble

On 11 March 2006, Kumble became the first Indian and only the fifth bowler in the history of Test cricket to reach the 500-wicket mark when he dismissed England’s Steve Harmison in Mohali.

Kumble’s affair with Delhi’s Kotla stadium continued. In his debut as a Test captain in November 2007, Kumble not only led India to a victory against Pakistan, but was awarded man of the match.

But another memorable moment at Kotla was waiting. In the company of his family and fellow cricketers, Anil Kumble announced retirement from international cricket on 2 November 2008 after a match against Australia.

After retirement from the Indian jersey, Kumble donned the bright red jersey of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League for five long years before moving to a mentor’s role with the team in which he continued till January 2013. He later moved to a similar job with the Mumbai Indians, which he quit in November 2015.

Eight years after announcing his retirement from International cricket, Anil Kumble made his comeback into the Indian dressing room – this time as the coach of the team.

Just as his one-year contract expired, Anil Kumble stepped down from his role as India’s head coach on 20 June amidst great controversy. News about rifts between coach and captain Virat Kohli had been doing the rounds for a while but in his resignation letter, Kumble confirmed that an “untenable” relationship between the two was the reason for his stepping down.

(This story was first published on 17 October 2016. It has been republished from The Quint’s archives on the occasion of Anil Kumble’s 48th birthday.)