Anil Kumble takes all 10 in an innings against Pakistan to equal Jim Laker’s feat
Pakistan toured India in 1999 to play two-match Test series. Mohammad Azharuddin was the captain of India while Wasim Akram captained Pakistan. The series ended in a draw as Pakistan won the first match in Chennai and India fought back to win the second match in Delhi to level the series 1-1.
The 1999 series is still remembered for the legendary Anil Kumble 10 for 74 that equaled Jim Laker’s feat of taking all 10 wickets in a Test, which he achieved against Australia in the 1956 Ashes match at Manchester.
Kumble’s record-equaling feat came at the Kotla. Batting first, India only managed 252 runs — Saqlain Mushtaq emerging as the destroyer-in-chief with five wickets. In reply, Pakistan crumbled to 172 as Kumble (4) and Harbhajan (3) took seven wickets between them and gave India a lead of 80-odd runs. In the second innings, India scored 339 to leave Pakistan with a target of 420 runs to win the Test and the series. Mushtaq took another five wickets to finish 10 in the Test.
Pakistan started their chase on a brilliant note with 101 for no loss as openers Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi guided them till lunch without any difficulty. Kumble’s torment started post lunch. His first victim came in the 25th over, Shahid Afridi succumbing to a faint edge. The very next ball, Kumble dismissed Ijaz Ahmed for a duck. Next man Inzamam-ul-Haq was the third wicket to fall in the 29th over, bowled off an inside edge. Two balls later, Kumble got Yousuf Youhanna lbw. Moin Khan was the next man to go in the 37th over, caught in the slips by Sourav Ganguly. And two overs later, Kumble struck again to dismiss Saeed Anwar who got a gritty knock of 69.
Pakistan slumped from 101 for no loss to 128 for six in just 14 overs. There were a semblance of resistance by the Pakistanis before Kumble ended the match in six overs. Pakistan lost their seventh wicket in the 55th over when Saleem Malik was bowled by a straight delivery when he tried to essay a pull. Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq were dismissed in the 59th over off consecutive deliveries. For the second time in the match, Kumble was on a hat-trick. By the time he got his ninth wicket, he became the fourth Indian after Subhash Gupte, Jasu Patel and Kapil Dev to claim nine wickets in a Test innings. And when he got the wicket of Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, he became the first and only Indian to take 10 wickets in an innings. He finished the innings with the magical figure of 10 for 74; the best figure, still headed by England’s Jim Laker 10 for 53.
Pakistan lost the match by 212 runs and Kumble was declared the Man of the Match for finishing with figures of 14 for 149 runs.