Five of the best

Anil Kumble announced his arrival on India's first tour of South Africa © Getty Images

For over a decade, Anil Kumble has carried India's bowling burden, with only intermittent help, and not a murmur of protest. Early on in his career, he was denigrated by critics as a mechanical performer capable of excelling only on home dustbowls, an unworthy heir to a tradition that had spawned Subhash Gupte, Vinoo Mankad, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. Now, as he prepares for the slow ride into the sunset, those who once slated him have no choice but to grudgingly accept that he has bowled himself onto the top step of India's cricket pantheon. In the 26 Tests that India have won in his time, Kumble has failed to take five wickets only twice, aggregating an astonishing 189 wickets at 18.1 apiece. To put that into some sort of perspective, India's three greatest batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid - can between them only point to 22 centuries in winning Tests. As he comes close to putting Kapil Dev in the shade as India's leading wicket-taker, Kumble looks back on the spells that have defined his career - some of the brightest splotches of colour found on Indian cricket's canvas.

6 for 53 v South Africa at Johannesburg, 1992
South Africa were shipping water at 61 for 4 when Steve Bucknor refused to refer a run-out decision to the third umpire. Jonty Rhodes, who was then on 26, went on to make 91, and South Africa got to 292. Tendulkar then made a doughty 111 as India's first innings finished 65 short. South Africa's quest for quick second-innings runs was stymied by Kumble, who bowled 44 overs, 22 of them maidens, for just 53 runs and six wickets.

"That was my first five-for in a Test, and it gave me enormous confidence. I remember bowling unchanged from the first drinks-break on the fourth day until after tea. They had a lead in the first innings, and were looking for quick runs, so I just stuck to a tight line and length. I think I got all their top batsmen [except Jimmy Cook and Kepler Wessels] that day, and clean-bowling players of the calibre of Peter Kirsten, Jonty Rhodes and Hansie Cronje was very special. Unfortunately, we didn't win the game."

England were terrorised by India's spin trio in 1993, but from there only Kumble grew in stature © Getty Images

6 for 64 v England at Chennai, 1993
This was Kumble's first five-wicket haul in a home Test, and it led India to an emphatic victory after centuries from Navjot Sidhu and Tendulkar had set the game up. Rajesh Chauhan and Venkatapathy Raju did the damage in the first innings, but when England followed on, it was Kumble to the fore.

"I think my first five wickets came in the space of about 10 overs. I remember getting a wicket almost every other over. Then Chris Lewis made a hundred, and he had a fair partnership with Phil Tufnell for the ninth wicket. But we won the game comfortably, and with it the series. It was an incredible feeling. It was one of those days when the ball just came out nicely, and you walked back to the top of your mark thinking you could get a wicket almost every ball. I remember bowling Richard Blakey, who wasn't a bad player. He told me afterwards that he didn't know what was happening. He would look to come forward and then go back. Andrew Flintoff was the same when he came to India in 2001 - went back a lot, but he's changed now."

10 for 74 v Pakistan at Delhi, 1999
Few men have dominated a Test match like Kumble did this one. He took 4 for 75 in the first innings to give India an 80-run lead. Then, after Sadagoppan Ramesh's 96 and Sourav Ganguly's unbeaten 62 set Pakistan 420 to win, Kumble engineered a remarkable collapse from 101 for no wicket to 207 all out.

"We had a big target to defend, and though they started well, we were aware that only two teams had ever chased down over 400 to win a Test. At lunch they were 90 for 0, and in our team discussion we told each other that we'd have to turn it up a notch. We were 1-0 down in the series, and I remember walking out thinking that someone had to stand up to the Pakistani batsmen. I went out there with the intention of keeping it tight, knowing that if even one wicket fell it would make it hard for the batsmen coming in, who would have to combat the turning ball rather than pace.

"I remember each of the wickets, but two stand out. Ijaz Ahmed had this tendency to plant his foot forward, and I got him leg-before with a yorker. Saleem Malik had a hamstring problem, and couldn't really move about. I got him bowled with a flipper which he tried to pull."

Kumble was in full flight at Sydney, but the wickets India needed for their first series win in Australia eluded him © Getty Images

8 for 141 and 4 for 138 v Australia at Sydney, 2004
Steve Waugh's last hurrah turned out to be a tense final-day battle of attrition, with Australia just about hanging on for the draw, which allowed series honours to be shared. Tendulkar and VVS Laxman had done the damage with the bat, and despite a superb century by Simon Katich, Kumble's eight wickets set India up for a second-innings run-fest. Set 443 to win, Australia were in some strife until Waugh came up with a typically cussed 80.

"I rate all three of my performances in Australia on the last tour - Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney - just about equal since it was important for me to get wickets abroad. It's an unmatched feeling when you can do that against the best side in the world on their home grounds. The Sydney game had a significance far beyond being Steve's last one because the outcome of the series was at stake. Having put 700 on the board, it was obviously disappointing that we couldn't win it.

"Of the wickets that I particularly remember, I'd have to mention those of Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn in the first innings, and that of Matthew Hayden in the second."

7 for 48 and 6 for 133 v Australia at Chennai, 2004
Harbhajan Singh had provided the initial breakthrough, and then Kumble decimated the Australian middle and lower order in the first innings, finishing with 7 for 48. And after Virender Sehwag's 155 had helped India to a 141-run lead, Kumble toiled ceaselessly on a pitch that had flattened out, picking up 6 for 133 as India left themselves with 229 to get. Sadly, the weather gods ensured that his stunning bowling would result in just the Man of the Match award.

"I rate this performance very highly because the seven-for came on a first-day pitch against a batting side that had made 474 in the previous Test. Being 1-0 down in the series, it was important that we make a statement, especially after they got to 136 for 0. Bhajji got both openers, and I remember talking to David Shepherd before tea. Damien Martyn was on strike, and Shep told me that it would be the last over before the interval. `Tea preferably after this ball' was my reply, and I did indeed get him first ball of the over.

"The most memorable dismissal was probably the one of Adam Gilchrist in the second innings. I'd got him like that at Adelaide too. When he gets going, he tends to expose his leg stump. There was a lot of rough there from the left-armers' footmarks for the offspinner to exploit and I thought I'd change my angle and bowl googlies. And it worked.