Anil Kumble became the first Indian and only the fifth bowler in Test cricket history to reach the 500-wicket mark when he had Steve Harmison plumb in front on the third day of Mohali Test.
Kumble thus joined the exclusive club of Courtney Walsh, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Glenn McGrath.
A detailed statistical summary of Kumble's Test career:
Performance against each country:
| Opponent | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | RpO |
| Australia | 14 | 4836 | 149 | 2391 | 88 | 27.17 | 8-141 | 9 | 2 | 54.95 | 2.97 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 341 | 17 | 144 | 10 | 14.40 | 4-55 | 0 | 0 | 34.10 | 2.53 |
| England | 15 | 4980 | 207 | 2129 | 69 | 30.85 | 7-115 | 4 | 1 | 72.17 | 2.56 |
| New Zealand | 11 | 3610 | 195 | 1293 | 50 | 25.86 | 6-67 | 3 | 1 | 72.2 | 2.15 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 3815 | 139 | 2113 | 63 | 33.54 | 10-74 | 4 | 2 | 60.56 | 3.32 |
| South Africa | 16 | 5438 | 226 | 2084 | 66 | 31.58 | 6-53 | 3 | 0 | 82.39 | 2.3 |
| Sri Lanka | 15 | 4364 | 173 | 1909 | 66 | 28.92 | 7-59 | 4 | 2 | 66.15 | 2.62 |
| West Indies | 13 | 3354 | 124 | 1546 | 51 | 30.31 | 5-30 | 3 | 0 | 65.76 | 2.77 |
| Zimbabwe | 7 | 2221 | 108 | 859 | 38 | 22.61 | 5-63 | 2 | 0 | 58.45 | 2.32 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 32959 | 1338 | 14468 | 501 | 28.87 | 10-74 | 32 | 8 | 65.78 | 2.63 |
| Bowling summary | Mts | Balls | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 5WI | 10WM | SR | RpO |
| in Matches at home | 55 | 17950 | 792 | 7503 | 316 | 23.74 | 10-74 | 24 | 7 | 56.81 | 2.50 |
| in Matches away | 50 | 15009 | 546 | 6965 | 185 | 37.65 | 8-141 | 8 | 1 | 81.13 | 2.78 |
| in the 1st Innings | 102 | 19906 | 764 | 8740 | 279 | 31.32 | 8-141 | 17 | 0 | 71.35 | 2.63 |
| in the 2nd Innings | 84 | 13053 | 574 | 5728 | 222 | 25.80 | 10-74 | 15 | 1 | 58.80 | 2.63 |
| for a winning team | 35 | 10985 | 493 | 4480 | 240 | 18.67 | 10-74 | 18 | 5 | 45.78 | 2.45 |
| for a losing team | 25 | 7798 | 233 | 3909 | 91 | 42.96 | 6-70 | 4 | 0 | 85.69 | 3.01 |
| drawn | 44 | 13998 | 604 | 6003 | 165 | 36.38 | 8-141 | 9 | 3 | 84.84 | 2.57 |
This is how Kumble got his wickets
| Mode of Dismissal | Home | Away | TOTAL |
| Bowled | 49 | 26 | 75 |
| Caught in the field | 148 | 92 | 240 |
| Caught by keeper | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| Caught & bowled | 16 | 9 | 25 |
| Stumped | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| LBW | 79 | 43 | 122 |
| TOTAL | 316 | 185 | 501 |
Kumble's bunnies
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) | 8 times |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 7 times |
| Roshan Mahanama (SL) | 7 times |
| Andrew Hudson (SA) | 7 times |
| Hansie Cronje (SA) | 7 times |
| Adam Gilchrist (Aus) | 7 times |
| Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) | 7 times |
| Ricky Ponting (Aus) | 7 times |
| Simon Katich (Aus) | 6 times |
| Shane Warne (Aus) | 6 times |
Kumble's progression to 500-mark
| Wicket | Match | Opponent | Venue | Victim | Date | Age |
| 1st | 1st | England | Old Trafford | Allan Lamb | 10 Aug 1990 | 19y,297d |
| 50th | 10th | Zimbabwe | Delhi | Alistair Campbell | 17 Mar 1993 | 22y, 151d |
| 100th | 21st | New Zealand | Bangalore | Martin Crowe | 18 Oct, 1995 | 25y, 1d |
| 150th | 34th | West Indies | Kingston | Stuart Williams | 9 Mar 1997 | 26y, 143d |
| 200th | 47th | Zimbabwe | Harare | Pommy Mbangwa | 7 Oct, 1998 | 27y, 355d |
| 250th | 55th | New Zealand | Kanpur | Matt Horne | 24 Oct 1999 | 29y, 7d |
| 300th | 66th | England | Bangalore | Matthew Hoggard | 19 Dec, 2001 | 31y, 63d |
| 350th | 77th | New Zealand | Ahmedabad | Jacob Oram | 10 Oct 2003 | 32y, 358d |
| 400th | 85th | Australia | Bangalore | Simon Katich | 6 Oct, 2004 | 33y, 355d |
| 450th | 93rd | Pakistan | Mohali | Mohammad Sami | 12 Mar 2005 | 34y, 146d |
| 500th | 105th | England | Mohali | Steve Harmison | 11 Mar 2006 | 35y, 145d |
Race to 500
| Wickets | Warne | Murali | Kumble |
| 100 | 23 | 27 | 21 |
| 200 | 42 | 42 | 47 |
| 300 | 63 | 58 | 66 |
| 400 | 92 | 72 | 85 |
| 500 | 108 | 87 | 105 |
This is how the three ace spinners performed in each progressive segment of 10 matches
| Warne | Murali | Kumble | ||||
| Match # | Wkts | Ave | Wkts | Ave | Wkts | Ave |
| 1 - 10 | 25 | 35.72 | 40 | 27.33 | 53 | 24.66 |
| 11 - 20 | 58 | 21.45 | 34 | 34.68 | 46 | 26.15 |
| 21 - 30 | 62 | 20.27 | 49 | 25.59 | 37 | 27.11 |
| 31 - 40 | 42 | 21.95 | 57 | 28.53 | 32 | 43.44 |
| 41 - 50 | 48 | 26.23 | 65 | 20.12 | 52 | 25.54 |
| 51 - 60 | 42 | 25.12 | 65 | 21.34 | 50 | 27.08 |
| 61 - 70 | 39 | 35 | 72 | 20.21 | 49 | 26.37 |
| 71 - 80 | 35 | 28.97 | 68 | 19.1 | 51 | 32.47 |
| 81 - 90 | 44 | 28.3 | 77 | 18.14 | 64 | 26.47 |
| 91 - 100 | 49 | 31.43 | 66 | 19.26 | 51 | 26.41 |
| 101 - 110 | 73 | 18.51 | 7 | 20.14 | 11 | 74.36 |
| 111 - 120 | 49 | 27.73 | - | - | - | - |
| 121 - 130 | 68 | 18.99 | - | - | - | - |
| 131 - 135 | 25 | 31.16 | - | - | - | - |
Victims by style
| RHB | LHB | RHB% | LHB% | |
| Warne | 504 | 155 | 76.48 | 23.52 |
| Murali | 472 | 128 | 78.67 | 21.33 |
| Kumble | 377 | 124 | 75.25 | 24.75 |
Victims by batting order
| Op | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | Top Order % | |
| Warne | 96 | 56 | 59 | 76 | 66 | 62 | 70 | 68 | 68 | 38 | 53.56 |
| Murali | 99 | 53 | 58 | 58 | 64 | 81 | 52 | 53 | 51 | 31 | 55.33 |
| Kumble | 83 | 60 | 54 | 47 | 51 | 46 | 48 | 50 | 40 | 22 | 58.88 |
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