Anil Kumble would have picked 900 wickets with DRS: Gautam Gambhir
Former India and RCB captain Anil Kumble finished his Test career as the 3rd highest wicket-taker in the world. Kumble’s 18-year-long career fetched him 619 wickets in 132 Tests.
But if former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir is to be believed, Kumble would have ended his career with 900 Test wickets had there been DRS (Decision Review System) during his heydays.
It is noteworthy that Kumble was the captain of the Indian side when the DRS was experimented for the first time in a Test match against Sri Lanka. However, after the match, Kumble was not much pleased with the induction and had opined that the review system “is still an experiment” and that it had to be reviewed.
Speaking to Sports Tak during Instagram Live, Gambhi said, “With DRS technology Kumble would have ended up with 900 wickets and Harbhajan with 700 wickets.”
Gambhir also said that Kumble was the best captain he played under. He added that the kind of assurance he got from Kumble was incomparable.
Sharing one such incident Gambhir said, “Sehwag and I were having dinner when Kumble walked in and said that you guys will open throughout the series no matter what. Even if you get 8 ducks it doesn't matter. I have never heard such words from anyone in my career. So, if I have to give my life for someone, it would be Anil Kumble. Those words are still in my heart.”
"Had he captained India for a longer duration like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, he would have made many records. He captained in tough series' in Australia and Sri Lanka."
Gambhir also named his all-time Test XI on the show, naming Kumble as the captain that featured Dhoni as a wicket-keeper and Virat Kohli at number five.
Gambhir's all-time Indian Test XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble (captain), Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath.
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