Anil Kumble is seen as one of the most successful bowlers of India for a reason. Kumble, in his historic career, picked 619 Test wickets and 337 ODI wickets – the most by any Indian bowler in both the formats. The off-spinner also became the only Indian to take 10 wickets in a single innings of a Test match in 1999 Test against Pakistan at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. But while Kumble was making a name for himself, he was often compared with his contemporaries Shane Warne from Australia and Muttiah Muralitharan from Sri Lanka.
Both Warne and Muralitharan, too, achieved great success in both the formats. The two spinners are regarded as two of the best bowlers in the history of the game alongside Kumble. In a recent interaction on Instagram Live with Pommie Mbangwa, Kumble opened up on the comparisons with both the bowlers.
“It was very difficult to compare since these two guys could spin the ball on any surface. It became very very difficult for me, when they started comparing me with Warne or Murali,” Kumble said.
“Murali, I would see him a lot more because India-Sri Lanka played very often. So it was always a congratulatory note coming for me from Murali after I pass on every milestone and Murali would be 30 wickets to the next one,” he added.
“I would congratulate him in advance saying Murali, another 30 wickets to go for your 500, congratulations. He would say no no no, this is a long way. I would say that’s 3 Test matches for you,” Kumble further recalled.
He further went on to add that he, along with Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan shared a wonderful relationship of respect and admiration and that it was nice to see the three of them do well for their respective countries.
