Interesting Facts About Anil Kumble- “The Greatest Indian Spinner”

Aggressive, disciplined, hard-working, skillful Anil Kumble was a complete package for team India, who served the nation for more than 18 years. He is someone who used to bowl a bit quicker than other wrist spinners in the world. He is unarguably one of the top three spinners to ever play the game. If India has produced the biggest match-winner then it is Anil Kumble. There are some interesting facts about Anil Kumble, the lanky leg spinner, which will make the fans wow. Let’s contemplate them. 

Interesting Facts About Anil Kumble

1. Anil Kumble was born on 17th October 1970 in Bangalore, Karnataka to Krishna Swamy and Saroja. He has a sibling named Dinesh Kumble.

2. Kumble’s name has been taken from his parents’s native place’s name Kumbla, Kerala. 

3. Kumble’s mother tongue is Kannada. 

4. Anil Kumble’s nicknames are “apple” and “Jumbo”. 

5. It’s surprising but Anil Kumble holds an Engineering degree. He graduated from Rashtriya Vidyalaya College of Engineering in B.E in 1991-92. 

6. Anil Kumble made his first appearance in first-class cricket in 1989 against Hyderabad for Karnataka. The leggie got 4 wickets in his first match. 

7. In 1989, Kumble played two test matches for India U-19 against Pakistan U-19. He scored 113 and 76 in the 1st & 2nd test respectively. 

8. Anil Kumble made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 1990. He managed to pick up one wicket only.
9. Kumble has taken the most ODI wickets for India, 337 wickets in 271 games. 

10. The year 1996 was special for the 6ft 1-inch bowler, he begged 61 ODI wickets in that year, which is the highest by any bowler in ODIs in a calendar year. 

11. With India Kumble won only one ICC trophy, the 2002 Champions Trophy. Kumble scalped 4 wickets in 4 matches in the tournament.

12. Anil Kumble’s best bowling performance in ODI came against West Indies in 1993 in the Hero Cup final. He wreaked havoc with the ball by grabbing 6 wickets for 12 runs and restricting West Indies for 123 runs who was in the pursuit of 226 runs. 

13. The greatest Indian spinner played his maiden test match against England in 1990 at Old Trafford. He returned with 3 wickets and made 38 runs but still, was dropped from the side for the next two years. 

14. After a great domestic season in 1992, Kumble made a comeback for the series against South Africa. He picked up his 1st fifer in the series. Having bagged 21 wickets in 3 matches in the next home series against England, he got the Man of the Series award. 

15. Anil Kumble is the 3rd highest wicket-taker in international cricket with 956 wickets in 306 matches. 

16. The Karnataka-born leggie is the 2nd bowler to take a 10-wicket haul in an innings of a test match after Jim Laker. He returned with 10/74 in Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999 against Pakistan. 

17. Anil Kumble is a very passionate and determined cricketer. In 2002 against a test match West Indies in Antigua, Caribbean seamer Mervyn Dillon broke Kumble’s jaw with a well-directed bouncer. Hat’s off to his grit, he came to bowl and delivered 14 overs, grabbing the prize wicket of Brian Lara. 

18. Becoming the highest wicket-taker in overseas fast bowling conditions is always a matter of elation, India’s one of the greatest test series was the 2003-04 series in Australia. Where they managed to draw the series by 1-1. Kumble created destruction for the host Aussies in the series, taking 24 wickets in 3 matches (most by any bowler). 

19. The veteran cricketer has bowled 40850 balls in the longest format of the game, 40850. Only Muralitharan has bowled more deliveries than him (44039). 

20. Anil has represented three clubs in English County cricket- Northamptonshire (1995), Leicestershire (2000), and Surrey (2006). In 1995 for Northamptonshire, Kumble was on fire, taking 105 wickets for them. 

21. Very few people know that Kumble has a test century also, which came against England in Oval in 2007, 110 off 192 balls. 

22. Kumble announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008 after the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in 2008 against Australia, sustaining a long shoulder injury. 

23. IPL has also experienced the presence of veteran spinner, Anil Kumble. RCB signed a three-year contract with Anil for a whopping amount of $500000 per year.

24. In 1995, the Indian government honored Anil Kumble with the “Padma Shri” award for his contribution to Indian cricket. 

25. A famous intersection in MG Road, Bangalore has been named after Karnatak’s own boy Anil Kumble, for making Karnataka proud with his exceptional bowling. 

26. BCCI appointed Kumble as the head coach of the Indian national team in 2016 but after the defeat in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, he stepped down from the prime position. 

27. ICC inducted him into the “Hall of Fame” in 2015, he is the 4th Indian to get this honor. 

28. Kumble tied the knot with Chetana Kumble in 1999. They have three children- Son Mayas Kumble, Daughters Aaruni, and Svasti Kumble.

29. Anil’s jersey number was 8.

30. Kumble’s estimated net worth is $11 million. 
31. Alan Lambe was the first victim of Anil Kumble in Test cricket.
32. Avg Bowling Speed of Anil Kumble was 100 KMPH.