Kumble storms into the 500-wicket club

Three months ago, Anil Kumble became the second Indian bowler, after Kapil Dev, to play 100 Tests. Today he became the first to take 500 Test wickets, and joins Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh in an exclusive club.

In a country that worships stellar batsmen, Kumble's matchwinning exploits are soon forgotten and unfavourable comparisons are made with other leading bowlers. But the fact is that Kumble, in his 105th Test, is the second-fastest to the 500 mark in terms of matches played, ahead of Warne, McGrath and Walsh. The only bowler to do it in fewer matches is Murali, who achieved the feat in 87 Tests.

Quickest to 500 wickets

Bowler	Matches	Overs	Wickets	Avg/SR
Muttiah Muralitharan	87	4970	505	22.89/59.0
Anil Kumble	105*	5493.1	501	28.87/65.7
Glenn McGrath	110	4286.4	509	21.01/50.6
Shane Warne	108	5037.1	501	25.51/60.3
Courtney Walsh	129	4835.1	504	24.56/57.5

*Includes the first innings of his 105th Test

As a matchwinning bowler, Kumble is unparalleled in India. The number of wickets he has in Tests that the team has won is nearly double that of Harbhajan Singh, his closest competitor. Twenty-seven of his 31 five-fors and all eight of his ten-wicket hauls have come in matches that India have either drawn or won.

Most wickets in Indian Test wins

Bowler	Matches won	Wickets	Avg/SR
Anil Kumble	35	240	18.67/ 45.77
Harbhajan Singh	22	122	20.55/ 48.81
BS Chandrasekhar	14	98	19.27/ 45.41
Bishan Singh Bedi	17	97	17.65/ 54.03
Kapil Dev	24	90	18.3/ 45.27

When Kumble first burst on to the scene, opposition batsmen weren't used to his unique style of bowling - his first 100 wickets came in quick time, at a superb average of 24. As the batsmen gradually got the measure of his bowling, the wickets became harder to accumulate - his next 100 wickets took him 26 matches. Since then, though, he has got them at a pretty quick rate, and now averages 4.77 wickets per Test.