 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Anil Kumble reached the milestone of 400 Test wickets after claiming the wicket of Australia's Simon Katich for 81, in the post-tea session on day one of the first Test in Bangalore on Wednesday.
The veteran leg spinner, who started the Test on 397 wickets, had earlier claimed the wickets of Damien Martyn (3) and Darren Lehmann (17) in the second session.
Kumble, playing his 85th Test match, now joins former all-rounder Kapil Dev (who took 434 wickets) as the only two Indian bowlers to have reached the milestone.
It was a special moment for Kumble as he reached the milestone in front of his home crowd.
Before the match, he had said he would like to reach the milestone in front of his home fans but would not put himself under unnecessary pressure on that account.
"It would be really nice to get there as soon as possible. I don't want it to linger on for a long time. Hopefully, it will happen here -- but not on the first day as we would like to bat first!
"It would be nice to do it in front of the home crowd, family and friends. I started my cricket career here and it would be nice if it happens here," he added.
Having made his debut against England in 1990, Kumble took his 100th wicket in his 21st Test, 200th in 47th, 300th in 66th and now 400th in his 85th Test.
Performance against each country:| Opponent | Tests | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | ER |
| Australia | 11 | 3795 | 122 | 1792 | 64 | 28.00 | 8/141 | 6 | 1 | 59.30 | 47.22 |
| England | 13 | 4370 | 178 | 1864 | 62 | 30.06 | 7/115 | 3 | 1 | 70.48 | 42.65 |
| New Zealand | 11 | 3610 | 195 | 1293 | 50 | 25.86 | 6/67 | 3 | 1 | 72.20 | 35.82 |
| Pakistan | 6 | 1648 | 67 | 840 | 37 | 22.70 | 10/74 | 3 | 1 | 44.54 | 50.97 |
| South Africa | 14 | 4600 | 192 | 1743 | 56 | 31.13 | 6/53 | 2 | - | 82.14 | 37.89 |
| Sri Lanka | 12 | 3533 | 144 | 1535 | 46 | 33.37 | 7/59 | 2 | 1 | 76.80 | 43.45 |
| West Indies | 13 | 3354 | 124 | 1546 | 51 | 30.31 | 5/30 | 3 | - | 65.76 | 46.09 |
| Zimbabwe | 5 | 1885 | 95 | 674 | 34 | 19.82 | 5/63 | 2 | - | 55.44 | 35.76 |
| TOTAL | 85 | 26795 | 1117 | 11287 | 400 | 28.22 | 10/74 | 24 | 5 | 66.99 | 42.12 |
The 400-wicket club
| Bowler | M | Balls | Mdn | Runs | Wkt | Avg | Best | 5WI | 10WI | SR | Ecn |
| M Muralitharan | 91 | 31124 | 1380 | 12165 | 532 | 22.86 | 9-51 | 44 | 13 | 58.5 | 2.34 |
| S Warne | 112 | 31490 | 1478 | 13425 | 527 | 25.47 | 8-71 | 27 | 8 | 59.7 | 2.55 |
| C Walsh | 132 | 30019 | 1144 | 12688 | 519 | 24.44 | 7-37 | 22 | 3 | 57.8 | 2.53 |
| G McGrath | 97 | 22860 | 1145 | 9509 | 440 | 21.61 | 8-38 | 24 | 3 | 51.9 | 2.49 |
| Kapil Dev | 131 | 27740 | 1060 | 12867 | 434 | 29.64 | 9-83 | 23 | 2 | 63.9 | 2.78 |
| R Hadlee | 86 | 21918 | 809 | 9611 | 431 | 22.29 | 9-52 | 36 | 9 | 50.8 | 2.63 |
| Wasim Akram | 104 | 22627 | 871 | 9779 | 414 | 23.62 | 7-119 | 25 | 5 | 54.6 | 2.59 |
| C Ambrose | 98 | 22103 | 1001 | 8501 | 405 | 20.99 | 8-45 | 22 | 3 | 54.5 | 2.30 |
| A Kumble | 84 | 26651 | 1115 | 11201 | 397 | 28.21 | 10-74 | 24 | 5 | 67.1 | 2.52 |