Two decades ago, former India captain Anil Kumble became only the second bowler after Englishman Jim Laker to pick up all 10 wickets in an innings. After succumbing to a heart-breaking defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in Chennai in the first Test, India bounced back in spectacular fashion to win the second.
At the heart of it all was Kumble. Playing against Pakistan was a mixed bag for the leg-spinner: while he was instrumental in playing a part in the volatile 1996 World Cup quarter-final, Saeed Anwar tormented him in a ODI in Chennai the following year during his epic 194.
This time, in Delhi, the series was on the line. The Kargil war added to the sporting drama. India had Pakistan on the ropes, and were easily the better team over four days, setting the visitors a mammoth 420-run target.
It was Kumble’s wizardry that gave India a handsome first-innings lead as well. Then, Anwar and Shahid Afridi cut loose and the packed Feroz Shah Kotla was silenced. Pakistan raced away to 101/0 at lunch.
Something had to change for India and it was a cut shot from Afridi that opened the floodgates. Wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia took a sharp catch. And, the formidable Pakistan batting line-up crumbled: Ijaz Ahmed and Mohammad Yousuf had no answers to Kumble’s flipper and were caught leg-before; Inzamam-ul-Haq chopped on and Saleem Malik bamboozled.
“It was all about getting the first wicket,” Kumble was quoted as saying by CricketNext. “Because for any new batsman to come in and get used to the pace of the pitch wasn’t easy. So we knew once the shine wears off, it is not going to be easy for a new batsman.
The tail didn’t last long and the Indian fielders did their part too. Javagal Srinath almost picked up Waqar Younis’s wicket but there was hardly any intent to go for a catch. Skipper Wasim Akram was the last wicket to fall. VVS Laxman at forward short-leg made no mistake. History was made. As for India, they had responded to a defeat in style. “For me, it was one of those days where whatever I had thought through the previous night actually happened and it unfolded in front of me,” Kumble added.
“I mean, it is something that is very very special. So you don’t tend to forget that. If you do, there are lots of people who are around it who will talk about the ten wickets.
“You don’t go into the game thinking that you are going to pick up all ten. This was probably destiny playing its part. Divine intervention, so to speak of, helping me to get all those ten wickets.”
