Kumble's dubious distinction

The leggie is having a tough series and so far he has conceded more than 500 runs.

Anil Kumble registered an entirely unwanted record against his name in Karachi Test. By the end of the second day’s play, Kumble has conceded 503 runs in this series in just 110.5 overs. This was the fourth occasion for Kumble of conceding 500 runs in a series of 3 matches. With this he equalled Australia’s Shane Warne’s record of conceding 500 runs in a series of 3 matches on most occasions. Interestingly, while Warne had conceded 500 runs in two successive away series against India, Kumble had done so in two successive series against Pakistan. In the last home series against Pakistan, Kumble had conceded 644 runs. But while on that occasion he succeeded in capturing 17 wickets, this time around he has managed just 6.

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The accompanying table lists all bowlers who have conceded 500 or more runs in a 3-match series on more than one occasion.It is hardly surprising that all are spinners.

		Balls	Runs	Wkts.	Ave
4	Warne	1090	504	18	28.00	Aus vs Pak in Pak	1994-95
		1002	540	10	54.00	Aus vs Ind in Ind	1997-98
		913	505	10	50.50	Aus vs Ind in Ind	2000-01
		1008	521	26	20.04	Aus vs SL in SL	2003-04
	Kumble	1045	504	14	35.00	Ind vs Eng in Eng	2002
		1237	710	24	29.58	Ind vs Aus in Aus	2003-04
		1309	644	17	37.88	Ind vs Pak in Ind	2004-05
		665	503	6	83.83	Ind vs Pak in Pak	2005-06
	Muralitharan	1279	516	26	19.85	SL vs Pak in Pak	1999-00
		1306	526	24	22.33	SL vs WI in SL	2001-02
		1225	649	28	23.18	SL vs Aus in SL	2003-04
	Qadir	1275	562	22	25.22	Pak vs Aus in Pak	1982-83
		976	538	14	38.43	Pak vs WI in WI	1987-88
	Saqlain	1171	512	14	36.57	Pak vs SL in SL	1996-97
		1127	503	24	20.96	Pak vs Ind in Ind	1998-99
	Harbhajan	1071	545	32	17.03	Ind vs Aus in Ind	2000-01
		1073	504	21	24.00	Ind vs Aus in Ind	2004-05
	Kaneria	1156	599	19	31.53	Pak vs Ind in Ind	2004-05
		896	560	15	37.33	Pak vs Aus in Aus	2004-05