Anil Kumble Confident Of Getting Ten-For Earlier Had DRS Been There

Former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble has opened up on the positive implications of the decision review system (DRS). He opined that he would have got a ten-wicket haul against Pakistan much earlier in the match had it been in effect then. Anil Kumble indulged himself in a conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin in his youtube channel “DRS with Ash” and spoke about various topics.

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It was in 1999 in Delhi when Anil Kumble became only the second bowler after Jim Laker to claim all ten wickets in an inning in Test cricket. In pursuit of 420 in the fourth innings, Pakistan trudged themselves to 101-0 before Kumble single-handedly decimated them as the tourists could only get to 207. The former Indian Test captain took 14 wickets in the match.

Anil Kumble recalled that when he took six out of six there was a tea break after which he felt tired. Since he bowled throughout from lunch to tea, Kumble thought that the tea break would be the chance for him to get better. However, never did the former Indian coach thought he would take the remaining four too.

“When I took six out of six, there was a tea break. So when I came back, I was a bit tired. Because I had bowled from lunch to tea, right throughout that spell. And at tea, I realised that there is a chance for me to get better than what I have done before. I never realised that I will get all 10,” the Karnataka-born leggie stated.

He added that no bowler walks into the game, thinking they would take all ten wickets even though they prepare to. Anil Kumble removed the left-handed batsman and the then Pakistan captain Wasim Akram to script a memorable victory for the hosts.

“I don’t think you go into a game thinking you are going to get all 10. Although you try and prepare that way, saying that, how do I bowl from No 1 to No 11 in the team? But you never realise that you will get all 10. So eight and nine happened with the fifth and sixth balls of that over,” Kumble mentioned.

“That’s how I look at it” : Anil Kumble

The 49-year old remembered there were a few decisions that did not go his way even though the batsmen were out. Hence, if the DRS had been introduced then, Kumble remained confident that he would have got all ten earlier.

“If there was DRS, everything was out. It was clean out. If there was DRS, I would have probably gotten the 10 earlier. That’s how I look at it,” he added.

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