Top three performances by Anil Kumble in IPL 

Former Indian leg-spinner and India’s leading test wicket-taker Anil Kumble turns 53 on Tuesday. Anil Kumble is considered a giant in Indian cricket annals with 619 test wickets and 337 ODI Wickets. 

It was in 2008 that Anil Kumble called time on his career aged 38 against Australia during the 3rd test in New Delhi. It was the same year that the cricketing world saw a new phenomenon called the Indian Premier League take shape. 

The former India skipper played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore for three seasons before calling it quits in 2010. Here are Anil Kumble’s top three performances during his time in the IPL.

Best performances by Anil Kumble in IPL: 

1. IPL 2009 – 5/5 versus Rajasthan Royals – Cape Town

It was the second match of the 2009 edition of IPL with RCB taking on defending champions Rajasthan Royals. It was touted as the battle of spin wizards pitting Anil Kimble against Shane Warner. 

The then 38-year-old came out on top taking 5 wickets for 5 runs from his 3.1 overs. Chasing 134 to win, Rajasthan were bowled out for just 58 runs on the board to lose by 75 runs. Kumble began by getting the big wicket of Yusuf Pathan for 11. The veteran then had Ravindra Jadeja caught by Virat Kohli to get his 2nd wicket. 

The battle of the spin wizards was won by Kumble when he had Shane Warne out stumped for 3. Munaf Patel became Kumble’s 4th wicket and when Kamran Khan was caught by Uthappa it was all over. Anil Kumble had written his name in the history books of IPL cricket.

2. IPL 2010 – 4/16 versus Deccan Chargers – Mumbai 

Anil Kumble marked his last game in the IPL with an emphatic performance. The 39-year-old played against the defending champions Deccan Chargers in a game to determine third place. 

Bowling the 1st over, Kumble got the big wicket of Adam Gilchrist for 4, the RCB captain had prevailed in a battle of legends. Dwayne Smith saw his stumps rattled by Kumble for 5, before Ryan Harris and Pragyan Ojha fell to the Indian spin magician. Deccan Chargers were all out for 82 with Kumble picking 4/16 as RCB won the game by 9 wickets.

3. IPL 2008 – 3/14 versus Chennai Super Kings – Chennai

The IPL 2008 season was the worst in the history of RCB and the fans still look at it with pain. Against a strong Chennai side playing at home, the Bangalore based team could only score 126. Rahul Dravid led the charge with 47 runs from 39 balls with 5 hits to the fence. 

Defending 127 against the likes of MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina was never going to be easy. Anil Kumble put in a lion-hearted performance that won RCB the game by 14 runs. Then aged 38- years-old, Kumble got Parthiv Patel for 24 and then got the key wicket of Stephen Fleming for 45. 

The third wicket was that of Badrinath who was having a season to remember. Anil Kumble ended with figures of 3/14 from his four overs to give RCB team a huge win over the powerhouses of IPL cricket.