Umpire Asad Rauf took a few seconds to raise the finger, but when he finally did, the Indian team mobbed Kumble to celebrate his 600th Test wicket
The rivalry between India and PAK has always been considered the greatest rivalry in cricket. However, the competition between India and Australia has also gained status in cricket, especially given the fact that despite having a strong line-up, India has, on most occasions, crumbled against the Aussies.
Therefore, every time India or an Indian player achieves something special against the Aussies, though not often, the scenes turn jubilant and grab headlines across both countries. The episode was no different when, under the scorching sun of Perth on January 17, 2008, Anil Kumble dismissed Andrew Symonds to get his 600th Test wicket. Back then, he joined the likes of the late Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, who already had 600 wickets.
Anil Kumble steps down as Team India coach
— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) June 20, 2017
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Batting first, India scored 330 runs in the first innings, but it wasn’t really enough to beat the strong Aussie lineup, which included great names such as Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, and several others.
Therefore, during Australia’s first innings, the onus was on the Indian bowlers to restrict the Aussies as soon as possible. To everyone’s surprise, the Indian bowling line-up did what they needed to do. Australia was down to 5 for 61, thanks to the efforts of Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, and Ishant Singh.
Kumble hadn’t had much success on the pitch, which was more suited for spin than pace. In fact, the first over that he bowled to Symonds, he gave away 10 runs. However, he was brought back to tackle Symonds, who, along with Gilchrist, had formed a partnership that was threatening India’s victory.
However, Kumble did his magic by throwing a pacey leg break that edged Symonds and deflected off Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves but fortunately reached Rahul Dravid, who was at the slip. Dravid caught the ball, and Kumble appealed to umpire Asad Rauf, who took a few seconds to raise the finger, but when he finally did, the Indian team mobbed Kumble to celebrate his 600th wicket.
The catch was quite ironic given it was taken by Rahul Dravid, who was Kumble’s teammate in Karnataka, and the duo had a combined tally of 54.
Anil Kumble retired as India’s highest wicket-taker across formats with 953 to his name, whereas no other active Indian bowler at present has reached the 600-overall mark. In international Test cricket, Kumble stands as the fourth highest Test wicket-taker with 619 Test wickets. Not to forget, in his Test career, he bowled 40,850 balls, which is the second highest in Tests after Muttiah Muralitharan.
Kumble bid adieu to international cricket in 2008 after playing his last game versus Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.
