New Delhi, Feb 7: Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag on Tuesday (Feb 7) thanked former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram and hailed destiny for helping Anil Kumble grab his maiden 'Perfect Ten'.
'Perfect Ten' was destiny: Kumble
On this day i.e. February 7, 1999 Kumble produced the bowling performance of a lifetime to grab all 10 wickets in a Test innings and became only the second bowler after Jim Laker to achieve this feat.
Sehwag on Tuesday (Feb 7) on the eighteenth anniversary of the historic day of Indian cricket took to Twitter to hail destiny and Akram for foiling his compatriot Waqar Younis' plan to foil ploy to avoid Kumble earn the fruits of a determined bowling effort.
"Kismat ke aage, all saazish fail. Well done Wasim bhai. What a day it was at the Kotla by Anil bhai," tweeted the Nawab of Najafgarh.
The statement roughly translates to 'all ploy fail in front of destiny. Well done Wasim (Akram) bhai. What a day it was at the Kotla by Anil (Kumble) bhai'.
Kismat ke aage ,all saazish fail.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 7, 2017
Well done Wasim bhai.
What a day it was at the Kotla by Anil bhai. pic.twitter.com/xDzMd39XOq
Years after that historic day Akram revealed that his batting partner Younis, in that game, had almost ruined Kumble's maiden 10-wicket haul by intentionally getting run out.
Younis and Akram were the last men batting for Pakistan after Kumble removed nine of visitors' ten wickets.
Recalling the second Test Match at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi in 1999 Akram said, "Kumble had got nine wickets and me and Waqar (Younis) were batting in the crease. Waqar came to me and said 'How about getting run out?' so that Kumble does not get his 10th wicket."
"I said 'You can't deny him the feat if he is destined for it. But I can assure you that I;m not going to give my wicket to Kumble'," Akram said.
"But subsequetly it was me who gifted my wicket to Kumble," he added.
Kumble returned epoch-making figures of 10/74 in 26.3 overs to hand India a remarkable 212-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan.
OneIndia News