da wazamba： A statistical look at Anil Kumble’s Test bowling career
da premier bet： Mathew Varghese17-Jan-2008Anil Kumble became only the third bowler to complete 600 Tests wickets when he dismissed Andrew Symonds on the second day of the Perth Test. He follows two of his contemporaries – Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne – in reaching the mark.
124 6416.0 600 28.67 64.1358 It’s been an eventful journey for Kumble, one during which he became only the second bowler to complete the Perfect Ten in Tests. He has reached the 600-mark quicker than fellow legspinner Warne.
100 2123 200 47 42 300 66 63 400 85 92 500 105 108 600 124 126He is by far India’s leading wicket-taker, with Kapil Dev a distant second with 434 wickets. In the matches he has played for India, Kumble has taken 600 of the 1960 wickets India have taken, and over a third of the team’s wickets at home.
India overall 1960 33.94 Kumble’s share 600 28.67 India at home 977 29.98 Kumble’s share 343 23.85 In the 41 matches India have won during his career, Kumble has picked up 279 wickets at 18.41. In draws and defeats the averagehas jumped up to more than 35.
Won 41 279 18.41 44.1 Lost 30 120 39.76 79.8 Drawn 52 200 36.34 82.8 Kumble is by far India’s greatest match-winning bowler; his 279 wickets in Indian victories have come at 18.41 apiece. Harbhajan Singh, who is next in line in terms of wickets, has taken less than half that number. Kumble’s average in wins is only marginally bettered by Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna among Indian bowlers with at least 50 wickets in wins.
Anil Kumble 41 279 18.41 44.1 Harbhajan Singh 25 131 21.08 49.4 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar 14 98 19.27 45.4 Bishan Bedi 17 97 17.65 54.0 Kapil Dev 24 90 18.30 45.2 Among spinners, Kumble’s strike-rate in matches won is second only to Muralitharan. Muralitharan has a strike-rate of 41.5 in victories, Kumble is second with 44.1, while Warne languishes behind at 51.2. Warne’s Australian compatriot Stuart MacGill is third in the list.
Muttiah Muralitharan 46 382 15.20 41.5 Anil Kumble 41 279 18.41 44.1 Stuart MacGill 30 161 24.11 46.3 Kumble’s home record is impressive, with the fourth-best average among spinners with 100 wickets at home; however, it is his away record that is often a point for criticism, especially when compared to the likes of Murali and Warne.
Home 59 343 23.85 19.22 26.39 Away 65 257 35.09 25.99 25.50 Barring Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, Kumble averages over 30 in overseas countries.As expected of spinners, Kumble performance improves as the match progresses, with his best coming in the fourth innings of a match.
1st 166 32.77 72.6 10 2nd 159 28.85 66.9 8 3rd 185 28.41 60.5 12 4th 90 21.31 50.9 5 In the last few years, beginning with India’s away series in England in 2002, Kumble has been a much improved bowler overseas, with his away average improving from 40.40 in 34 away Tests preceding the series, to 31.23 in matches since the start of the England series*. That average drops to 29.05 if you exclude the generally high-scoring matches in Pakistan. His averages improve significantly for matches in Australia, England and South Africa. However, the same period has seen a decline in the record at home.
Home 36 210 21.30 2313327.89 Away 34 109 40.40 3014731.23 In Australia 3 5 90.00 5 39 29.48 In England 4 8 63.00 6 28 35.25 In South Africa 9 31 35.32 3 14 24.71 In West Indies 7 22 34.094 23 28.60 *Kumble has played a considerable share of his Tests alongside offspinner Harbhajan Singh. The two have been involved in 47 Tests together, with Kumble outdoing his junior partner.
Anil Kumble 268 26.34 57.7 196 Harbhajan Singh 188 31.99 68.5 15 2 With ten Man-of-the-Match awards and four series prizes, Kumble tops the charts for silverware among Indians; Sachin Tendulkar has also won ten match awards in Tests and both he and Kapil Dev have also four Man-of-the-Series awards. It was perhaps fitting that Rahul Dravid took the catch that gave Kumble his 600th; the Kumble-Dravid combination has been the most successful bowler-fielder partnership (excluding wicketkeepers) for India. Their 54 dismissals is second only to the 65 dismissals by Mahela Jayawardene off Muralitharan.