He has been the country's leading strike bowler in the last decade. He is the leading wicket-taker among all Indian spin bowlers. Yet one discouraging aspect of his bowling has prevented Anil Kumble from gaining the premium status that, on the face of it, he so richly deserves - his woeful record away from home.

It is true that, mirroring the case of the national team, the record of most Indian bowlers in away Tests does not compare favourably with their record at home. But in the case of Kumble, the difference is so marked that it sounds alarm bells. It may not culminate in the selectors picking him only for Tests at home and ignoring him for away tours, but purely on his poor record abroad, the scenario could come perilously close to this.

Ever since he made his Test debut in England in 1990, Kumble has attracted considerable attention. For one thing, he was not the orthodox leg-spinner in the mould of Subhash Gupte or L Sivaramakrishnan or Narendra Hirwani. Secondly, his bowling style brought vivid memories of Bhagwat Chandrasekhar. Sure enough, the comparisons were made, and the experts reckoned that he still had a long way to go.

That was at the start of his career. After he established himself in the side, during the 1992-93 tour of South Africa, and very soon became the fulcrum of the spin attack, critics were convinced that he was a worthy successor to Chandrasekhar, not only in method and approach, but also in his match-winning ways. Like Chandra, Kumble won India many Tests and worked well in tandem with the other spin bowlers.

Kumble and Chandrasekhar © CricInfo

As the decade wore on, though, Kumble towered over his spin bowling colleagues. The others either had short careers or were constantly flitting in and out of the team; Kumble played 60 Tests on the trot, and his strike rate was the best of all Indian bowlers. He was head and shoulders above everyone else when it came to taking wickets, and the fact that he has now taken 300 wickets in 66 Tests at an average of just over 28, the next best over the last decade being Venkatapathy Raju's 93 wickets in 28 Tests, speaks volumes of Kumble's value and his undoubted number-one status in the side.

Chandra, on the other hand had Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkatraghavan around. All of them were contemporaries, and by the time they called it a day, the difference in their figures was not as pronounced as in Kumble's case.

But the spin quartet took wickets not only on tailor-made pitches at home but also in relatively alien conditions abroad. Not only that, they figured prominently in shaping Indian away victories - Chandra at the Oval in 1971, Port of Spain in 1976, Melbourne and Sydney in 1977-78; Prasanna at Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington in 1967-68, and Auckland in 1975-76; Bedi at Port of Spain in 1976 and Sydney in 1977-78; and Venkat at Port of Spain in 1971.

To say that Kumble's away record does not inspire confidence would be an understatement. Compared to Chandra's performances abroad, Kumble leaves much to be desired. A few tell-tale figures would be in order. In 26 Tests abroad, Chandra took 100 wickets at an average of 32.66. His strike rate was 67.7, and he took five wickets in an innings eight times and 10 wickets in a match once.

Kumble, in 32 away Tests, has 106 wickets at an average of 39.90. His strike rate is 94.8, he has taken five wickets in an innings four times, and his best match-haul is eight for 113, as compared to Chandra's 12 for 104, the best match figures for any Indian bowler abroad. The only Test victory that Kumble helped shape was in 1993 against Sri Lanka, when he had a match-haul of eight for 140. At home, however, Kumble has the better record. While Chandra took 142 wickets in 32 Tests at an average of 27.69, Kumble has, from 34 Tests, taken 194 wickets at an average of 21.55.

While the comparison between Chandra and Kumble is a valid one, if it ever came to a vote among Indian cricket fans, Chandra would probably have an edge. He had more variety, his bowling was deadlier, and he was more capable of sending down the unplayable delivery. Of course, he was also the more unpredictable bowler. Kumble scores in his accuracy and the fact that he gives the batsman no respite. On a helpful pitch, he too can make the ball turn and bounce as viciously as Chandra. However, Chandra could make the ball talk even on a relatively less responsive surface and this, in the final analysis, gave him the better record in away Tests.

It must be admitted, however, that Chandra had better close-in fielders, such a vital aspect in bowling of this type. As already stated, Kumble has been the country's number one spin bowler in the last decade. In his absence, through injury for most of last year, Harbhajan Singh made giant strides towards claiming the top spot. With the return of Kumble, however, there is no doubt that it is the experienced leg-spinner and not the young off-spinner who is still the ace of the pack. But the two bowl well in tandem, as they showed in the recent series against England, and that can only augur well for Indian cricket.

© CricInfo