Former Indian pacer
Ashish Nehra has heaped praise on former  Indian captain Anil Kumble, branding him India’s “greatest match-winner with the ball.”

Indian cricket has
been graced by some of the greatest legends the sport has ever seen like Kapil
Dev, Bishan Singh Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar and so
on.

Cricket
enthusiasts and analysts continue to debate about the best batsman to have
played for India, Nehra has his say on India’s all-time greatest bowling talent.

“First time I saw him
was on television only when Anil Kumble was playing for India,” Nehra said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show.

“He had those
huge glasses, but as you keep on playing your face, mannerisms and style keeps
changing every 5-6 years. But I would definitely agree that with the ball, he
was India’s biggest match-winner,” 

Kumble made his Test
debut as a 20-year-old when India toured England in 1990. The leg spinner took
619 wickets over the next 18 years, finishing as India’s highest wicket taker in
Tests and the third overall, only behind Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

Kumble became only the second ever bowler in Test match history after England’s Jim Laker to take ten wickets in a single innings in 1999. He wiped out the entire Pakistan batting order at the Feroz Shah Kotla to end up with bowling figures of 10/74. 

Meanwhile, former
Australian pacer Brett Lee also lauded Kumble as a “legend of the game.”

“When he first started
playing cricket, a bit like Vettori with the glasses on, a bit like a
university student with the look with the glasses. He looked a bit shy and
timid but 619 wickets later, 130-odd Tests, a legend of the game but a legend
of a guy,” Lee said.