The hundred certainly was very special, says Anil Kumble

BENGALURU: Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble has said his only Test hundred was special in more ways than one. Kumble, India's all-time highest wicket-taker in Tests, got a hundred in a Test match against

England

at

The Oval

in 2007.


"The hundred certainly was very special. Because I tried it...tried, tried, tried from the first game, and I got it right in the 117th. So it was probably guesswork for me as well. Guessing what the bowler would do, and then I got all the guesswork right in the 117th Test match," Kumble told India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube chat show 'DRS with Ash'.

"More than me, if you look at the balcony, my teammates were extremely happy. I think (VVS) Laxman just fell off celebrating my hundred," the legendary leg-spinner recalled.

"I knew that I had the last man standing there. Sreesanth was the last man there. I had scored almost 30 runs with him. And I knew that they (England) had taken the third or the fourth new ball, I don't remember. So I knew that I had to get the runs and not allow Sreesanth to have the strike," he said.

"So I was trying to make sure that I go after KP (Kevin Pietersen) and probably I stepped out too early. And KP just threw it really wide. And I had a swing. I knew it had taken the inside edge (of my bat) and even before (umpire) Steve Bucknor thought that was byes, I put my hand up, saying I have scored my hundred," Kumble added.