By IANS
Perth : Ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble Thursday dismissed Australia’s Andrew Symonds in the ongoing third Test here for his 600th wicket to become the first Indian and the third in the world to reach the milestone.
The 37-year-old captain of Team India is playing his 124th Test. Only Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan (734 wickets in 118 Tests) and retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne (708 in 145) are ahead of him in the wicket-takers’ list.
Cricket fans around the world will have to wait for a long time to see another bowler reaching the 600-wicket mark as the Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas, the closest to Kumble’s tally among the current players, has only 331 wickets. Vaas has announced that he will retire this year after taking 350 wickets.
The only other current bowler with 300-plus wickets is South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini, who has so far bagged 329 in 82 matches. But Ntini has crossed 30, and is unlikely to reach the 600-wicket mark.
After having danger man Symonds (66) caught by his Bangalore city mate Rahul Dravid at slip, Kumble threw his hands up in the air in celebration.
By a pleasant coincidence, Dravid also moved up to the third spot in the list of all-time Test catchers. With his 165th catch, Dravid left behind retired West Indian batsman Brian Lara. Australia’s Mark Waugh, who has also retired, holds the record with 181 catches.