Anil Kumble is a former Indian cricketer and a former captain of Tests and ODIs, who played Tests and ODIs for 18 years. A right-arm leg spin bowler, he took 619 wickets in Test cricket and remains the third-highest wicket taker of all time behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

Unlike his contemporaries, Kumble was not a big turner of the ball, but relied primarily on pace, bounce, and accuracy. He was nicknamed "Jumbo". Kumble was selected as the Cricketer of the Year in 1993 Indian Cricket, and one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year three years later.

Born in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Kumble developed an early interest in cricket as he grew up watching players like B. S. Chandrasekhar before becoming a full-fledged cricketer. He made his First-class debut at the age of 19 while representing Karnataka. Soon he was picked up for the Austral-Asia Cup in 1990 before making his Test debut against England later that year.

Since then he has represented the Indian Test team on more than 132 Test matches and was responsible for many of India's victories. Kumble became a part of the regular ODI team during the early 1990s and held some of the best performances during this time; which included his six wickets for 12 runs against the West Indies.

The year 1996 proved to very successful for him as he was selected for the World Cup and emerged out as the most successful bowler of the tournament; he played seven matches and captured 15 wickets at an average of 18.73. In 1999 while playing against Pakistan, Kumble dismissed all the ten batsmen in a Test match innings, being among the only two players to achieve this feat; the other player being Jim Laker of England.

Kumble was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2005. After having played for 18 years, he announced his retirement from international cricket in November 2008. In October 2012, Kumble was appointed the chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC)'s cricket committee.

Between 2012 and 2015, Kumble held positions as a chief mentor for the teams Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. He was also a former head coach of the Indian cricket team as well. In February 2015, he became the fourth Indian cricketer to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame.