Kumble, who made his debut against England in 1990, took his 100th wicket in his 21st Test, 200th in the 47th, 300th in the 66th and now the 400th in his 85th Test.
We present a detailed look at the master leg-spinner's career stats.
Kumble's bunnies
Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka) | 7 times |
Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka) | 7 times |
Andrew Hudson (South Africa) | 7 times |
Hansie Cronje (South Africa) | 7 times |
Ricky Ponting (Australia) | 6 times |
Adam Parore (New Zealand) | 5 times |
Matt Horne (New Zealand) | 5 times |
Hashan Tillekeratne (Sri Lanka) | 5 times |
Carl Hooper (West Indies) | 5 times |
Jonty Rhodes (South Africa) | 5 times |
Kumble in each series
Opponent | Season | Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | ER |
England* | 1990 | 1 | 360 | 170 | 3 | 56.67 | 3-105 | - | - | 120.00 | 47.22 |
Zimbabwe* | 1992-93 | 1 | 266 | 94 | 3 | 31.33 | 3-79 | - | - | 88.67 | 35.34 |
South Africa* | 1992-93 | 4 | 1527 | 467 | 18 | 25.94 | 6-53 | 1 | - | 84.83 | 30.58 |
England | 1992-93 | 3 | 1086 | 416 | 21 | 19.81 | 6-64 | 1 | - | 51.71 | 38.31 |
Zimbabwe | 1992-93 | 1 | 491 | 160 | 8 | 20.00 | 5-70 | 1 | - | 61.38 | 32.59 |
Sri Lanka* | 1993-94 | 3 | 843 | 375 | 13 | 28.85 | 5-87 | 1 | - | 64.85 | 44.48 |
Sri Lanka | 1993-94 | 3 | 819 | 317 | 18 | 17.61 | 7-59 | 1 | 1 | 45.50 | 38.71 |
New Zealand* | 1993-94 | 1 | 300 | 102 | 2 | 51.00 | 1-34 | - | - | 150.00 | 34.00 |
West Indies | 1994-95 | 3 | 875 | 409 | 13 | 31.46 | 4-90 | - | - | 67.31 | 46.74 |
New Zealand | 1995-96 | 3 | 434 | 152 | 10 | 15.20 | 5-81 | 1 | - | 43.40 | 35.02 |
England* | 1996 | 3 | 882 | 334 | 5 | 66.80 | 3-90 | - | - | 176.40 | 37.87 |
Australia | 1996-97 | 1 | 390 | 130 | 9 | 14.44 | 5-67 | 1 | - | 43.33 | 33.33 |
South Africa | 1996-97 | 3 | 877 | 387 | 13 | 29.77 | 4-71 | - | - | 67.46 | 44.13 |
South Africa* | 1996-97 | 3 | 932 | 384 | 8 | 48.00 | 3-40 | - | - | 116.50 | 41.20 |
West Indies* | 1996-97 | 5 | 1204 | 576 | 19 | 30.32 | 5-104 | 2 | - | 63.37 | 47.84 |
Sri Lanka* | 1997-98 | 2 | 814 | 430 | 5 | 86.00 | 3-156 | - | - | 162.80 | 52.83 |
Sri Lanka | 1997-98 | 3 | 732 | 279 | 6 | 46.50 | 3-56 | - | - | 122.00 | 38.11 |
Australia | 1997-98 | 3 | 1146 | 416 | 23 | 18.09 | 6-98 | 2 | - | 49.83 | 36.30 |
Zimbabwe* | 1998-99 | 1 | 322 | 129 | 7 | 18.43 | 4-87 | - | - | 46.00 | 40.06 |
New Zealand* | 1998-99 | 2 | 849 | 341 | 9 | 37.89 | 4-83 | - | - | 94.33 | 40.16 |
Pakistan | 1998-99 | 3 | 865 | 451 | 22 | 20.50 | 10-74 | 2 | 1 | 39.32 | 52.14 |
Sri Lanka* | 1998-99 | 1 | 325 | 134 | 4 | 33.50 | 4-134 | - | - | 81.25 | 41.23 |
New Zealand | 1999-00 | 3 | 1186 | 364 | 20 | 18.20 | 6-67 | 2 | 1 | 59.30 | 30.69 |
Australia* | 1999-00 | 3 | 878 | 450 | 5 | 90.00 | 2-72 | - | - | 175.60 | 51.25 |
South Africa | 1999-00 | 2 | 712 | 261 | 12 | 21.75 | 6-143 | 1 | - | 59.33 | 36.66 |
South Africa* | 2001-02 | 2 | 552 | 244 | 5 | 48.80 | 3-132 | - | - | 110.40 | 44.20 |
England | 2001-02 | 3 | 997 | 440 | 19 | 23.16 | 7-115 | 2 | 1 | 52.47 | 44.13 |
Zimbabwe | 2001-02 | 2 | 806 | 291 | 16 | 18.19 | 5-63 | 1 | - | 50.38 | 36.10 |
West Indies* | 2001-02 | 2 | 355 | 174 | 3 | 58.00 | 2-145 | - | - | 118.33 | 49.01 |
England* | 2002 | 3 | 1045 | 504 | 14 | 36.00 | 4-66 | - | - | 74.64 | 48.23 |
West Indies | 2002-03 | 3 | 920 | 387 | 16 | 24.19 | 5-30 | 1 | - | 57.50 | 42.07 |
New Zealand | 2003-04 | 2 | 841 | 334 | 9 | 37.11 | 4-95 | - | - | 93.44 | 39.71 |
Australia* | 2003-04 | 3 | 1237 | 710 | 24 | 29.58 | 8-141 | 3 | 1 | 51.54 | 57.40 |
Pakistan* | 2003-04 | 3 | 783 | 389 | 15 | 25.93 | 6-72 | 1 | - | 52.20 | 49.68 |
Australia | 2004-05 | 1 | 144 | 86 | 3 | 28.66 | 3-82 | - | - | 48.00 | 59.72 |
TOTAL | 85 | 26795 | 11287 | 400 | 28.22 | 10-74 | 24 | 5 | 66.99 | 42.12 |
Kumble's wickets -batting position wise
Openers | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 |
70 | 48 | 43 | 34 | 41 | 36 | 39 | 39 | 31 | 19 |
Kumble's wickets - Right handed vis-a-vis Left handed
RHB | LHB |
301 | 99 |
75.25% | 24.75% |
Kumble's performance result-wise
Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Best | 5WI | 10WM | Ave | SR | ER | |
in matches won by India | 26 | 8578 | 3404 | 189 | 10-74 | 14 | 3 | 18.01 | 45.39 | 39.68 |
in matches lost by India | 21 | 6465 | 3070 | 79 | 6-70 | 4 | 0 | 38.86 | 81.84 | 47.49 |
in drawn matches | 37 | 11608 | 4727 | 129 | 8-141 | 6 | 2 | 36.64 | 89.98 | 40.72 |
TOTAL | 84 | 26651 | 11201 | 397 | 10-74 | 24 | 5 | 28.21 | 67.13 | 42.03 |
Kumble under different captains
Captain | Tests | Balls | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | ER |
Mohammad Azharuddin | 36 | 11390 | 4467 | 179 | 24.96 | 10-74 | 10 | 2 | 63.63 | 39.22 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 25 | 7725 | 3261 | 97 | 33.62 | 6-67 | 6 | 1 | 79.64 | 42.21 |
Sourav Ganguly | 21 | 6602 | 3060 | 111 | 27.56 | 8-141 | 7 | 2 | 59.47 | 46.35 |
Rahul Dravid | 3 | 1078 | 499 | 13 | 38.38 | 6-72 | 1 | 0 | 82.92 | 46.29 |
TOTAL | 85 | 26795 | 11287 | 400 | 28.22 | 10-74 | 24 | 5 | 66.99 | 42.12 |
A comparative study of 400-wicket takers
Bowler | For | Test # | Yrs | Days | Reached on |
M Muralitharan | SL | 72 | 29 | 273 | 15 Jan 2002 |
Richard Hadlee | NZ | 80 | 38 | 217 | 05 Feb 1990 |
Anil Kumble | Ind | 85 | 33 | 355 | 06 Oct 2004 |
Glenn McGrath | Aus | 87 | 32 | 255 | 22 Oct 2002 |
Shane Warne | Aus | 92 | 31 | 348 | 27 Aug 2001 |
Wasim Akram | Pak | 96 | 34 | 14 | 17 Jun 2000 |
Curtly Ambrose | WI | 97 | 36 | 332 | 18 Aug 2000 |
Courtney Walsh | WI | 107 | 36 | 129 | 08 Mar 1999 |
Kapil Dev | Ind | 115 | 33 | 30 | 05 Feb 1992 |