Kumble equals Kapil Dev’s Test record

CALCUTTA: Leg-spinner Anil Kumble equaled former captain Kapil Dev’s Indian bowling record of 434 Test wickets Thursday when he dismissed South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini in the second and final cricket Test.

Kumble, 34, claimed three for 82 to boost his career tally to 434 wickets from 90 tests when he had Ntini caught by vice captain Rahul Dravid at slips, signaling the end of South Africa’s second innings.

Claiming 434 wickets from 131 Tests, Dev once held the record for most wickets in Test cricket until he was overtaken by Courtney Walsh of the West Indies. “It feels nice to equal this record, but I would have been happier to surpass the mark here in Calcutta,” said Kumble.

Kumble is now joint-fifth – along with Dev – in the list of Test cricket’s highest all-time wicket-takers. Only Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (552 wicket, 117 Tests), Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (532 wickets, 91 Tests), West Indian pacer Courtney Walsh (519 wickets, 132 Tests) and Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath (463 wickets, 103 matches) have effected more dismissals than him. Kumble and Dev are the only Indian bowlers take more than 400 Test wickets. The third placed Bishan Bedi claimed 266 Tests from 67 matches. Dev applauded Kumble for his dedication.

“His commitment and discipline should be seen by today’s youngsters. He’s a great role model and a great competitor,” Dev said from New Delhi. “Kumble should not stop here, he should go on to cross 500,” said Dev, who was the spearhead of the Indian pace attack for 16 years in a career that stretched from 1978 to 1994. Kumble himself felt the 500-mark wasn’t beyond him. “Five hundred wickets is a realistic target, I’d definitely like to be the first Indian to get there,” he said after claiming 10 wickets in two Tests against South Africa.

Kumble’s 64 dismissals from 10 Tests this year has also placed him at the top of the world’s highest wicket-takers in 2004. Kumble was four wickets behind Dev’s record at the start of this match, but only claimed one wicket in a first innings dominated by pace bowlers.

In South Africa’s second innings Wednesday, Kumble first had Boeta Dippenaar (6) caught by second slip Virender Sehwag, then returned to clean bowl No. 10 batsman Thami Tsolekile (1) and then dismiss last man Ntini.

Kumble, who began his Test career at the age of 19 during the 1990 tour of England, became only the second bowler in test history to claim all 10 wickets in a test innings in 1999. He emulated the feat of England’s Jim Laker with a haul of 10 for 74 against Pakistan in New Delhi. Kumble had his career interrupted for a year by a shoulder surgery, but bounced back by claiming eight for 133 against England in the northern Indian town of Mohali in 2001. ap

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