Picking up all 10 wickets in a Test innings is a rare feat. That is why, only three players so far have achieved this in the history of the game. Anil Kumble did it on this day 23 years ago and continues to remain the only Indian bowler to do so. While it is a milestone that is celebrated everywhere, his former teammate Harbhajan Singh decided to address it in a unique fashion on Monday by calling Kumble ‘greedy’.
Ex-leg spinner Kumble picked up all 10 wickets at the erstwhile Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium against Pakistan. In the second innings of the second Test, he returned with figures of 10 for 74 in 26.3 overs to take India to victory.
The BCCI’s official Twitter handle posted a video of Kumble’s historic spell and captioned it as: “#OnThisDay in 1999 #TeamIndia spin legend @anilkumble1074 set the stage on fire and became the first Indian to take all the 10 wickets in a Test innings. Let’s relive that sensational performance.”
Harbhajan, who has been an active social media user, retweeted the video with a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek comment.
Apart from Kumble only Jim Laker and most recently, Ajaz Patel, have bagged this feat. While Laker pocked 10/53 against England in Manchester in 1956, Mumbai-born Patel scalped 10/119 at the Wankhede Stadium in December 2021.
Batting first in Delhi, India posted 252 in the first innings before bundling out the neighbours for 172 to take a hefty lead. In their second innings, 96 from Sadagoppan Ramesh and 62 from Sourav Ganguly took the hosts to 339, setting the visitors a massive target of 420.
Courtest of Kumble wreaking havoc, India stormed to a 212-run win.