Kumble's record in figures

When Anil Kumble trapped Mohammad Rafique in front on the first day at Dhaka, he went past Kapil Dev to become India's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. The milestone came 14 years, four months and one day after he bowled his first ball in Tests - against England at Old Trafford in 1990 - and in the intervening period, there have been plenty of highs, and a few lows, in his career.

The most striking aspect of his career has been Kumble's contribution to Indian victories, mostly at home, but more recently in overseas wins as well. The table below shows just wide the gulf between him and the rest is - Kumble has 199 wickets in Indian wins, 101 more than BS Chandrasekhar, who is in second place, and more than Chandra and Bishan Bedi put together.

When Kumble started off, he was largely a one-trick pony, firing in his deliveries tirelessly and with unerring accuracy. He was lethal on uneven surfaces, but wasn't quite as effective on good tracks. However, of late, he has added more strings to his bow: he turns the legbreak much more than he used to, and he bowls at a much slower pace. That may have resulted in a slight compromise on the economy rate - it has gone up from 2.46 before December 2003 to 3.23 in the last 12 months - but it has also made him a more complete bowler. The difference shows in his stats - he has been taking more wickets in the first innings, and in overseas matches.

Of the 78 wickets he has taken in his last 13 Tests (since the Australian tour of 2003-04), 50 of them have come in the first innings. That by itself might not be surprising, since India haven't always bowled twice in these matches, but Kumble's average and strike-rate are better in the first innings too. He has taken eight five-fors during this period, six of them in the first innings.

Kumble's first 200 wickets took him 47 Tests, but since then he has been accumulating them at a much faster rate - 236 more in just 44 games (including the ongoing Dhaka Test). Kumble's first 100 wickets came quickly enough, in 21 Tests, but his next 100 took 26 more, which spoilt his numbers somewhat. Kapil, on the other hand, took plenty of time to go from 200 to 400.