All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

263 much a modern cricketer, successfully embracing all forms of cricket and plying his trade around the world. He played for three English counties, including Northamptonshire where as a well-liked member of the side he took 105 Championship wickets in 1995, and had three Twenty20 seasons in the Indian Premier League, in 2009 achieving the remarkable figures of five for 5 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Rajasthan Royals (in a match played at Newlands, Cape Town!). And he could bat a bit. His seven first-class centuries included famously a maiden Test century at The Oval in 2007 in his 118th Test, a record wait in terms of appearances. In a three- Test series he was the only one of a strong Indian batting line-up to reach three figures. When Kumble retired he had taken 1,136 first-class wickets - among Indian bowlers only Bishan Bedi has taken more; 619 Test wickets - only contemporaries Muralitharan and Warne have taken more; and an Indian record 334 wickets in ODIs. According to The Guardian ‘He was one of the good guys, and cricket is much the poorer for his departure’. After retirement Kumble continued to be actively involved in the game, his appointments including president of the Karnataka Cricket Association, Head of the BCCI’s Technical Committee, chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee and India’s Head Coach. Anil Kumble