Indian bowlers to pick 10 wickets in an innings in a first-class match: Anil Kumble, Anshul Kamboj in elite list

Bowling is often considered as the most thankless job in cricket. In multi-day games, their role becomes even more important as the team cannot win a contest without picking up 20 wickets of the opponents.

It is always challenging for bowlers, both spinners and pacers in Tests and first-class games as they need the physical and mental strength to bowl long spells at the opponent batters to get the better of them.

Irrespective of the conditions, they will have toil hard to get the breakthroughs for their team. Along with fitness, bowlers need to keep a high level of focus and concentration for long hours to reap the benefits of their hard work. Hence, five-wicket hauls are often merited at the same level as a century. 

In that light, it requires an extraordinary effort from a bowler to dismiss all the batters in an innings. As a result, such instances are very rare and are much talked about and celebrated as and when they occur on the cricket field.

In this article, we go through the list of Indian bowlers who have picked up all 10 wickets in an innings in a first-class match. Six Indian bowlers have performed this magic feat in a first-class match with Anil Kumble being the only player to do it at the international level.

Get the list of Indian bowlers who have picked up all 10 wickets in an innings in a first-class match.

Indian bowlers to pick all 10 wickets in an innings in first-class cricket: Get full list

Anshul Kamboj | 10/49 vs Kerala

Haryana’s Anshul Kamboj became only the sixth Indian bowler to pick up all ten wickets in an innings of a first-class match with his 10/49 against Kerala during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 campaign in November 2024.

Bowling first at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak, the Haryana pacer made full use of the swinging conditions to dismiss all the Kerala batters in the first innings with the score reading 291.

Though Kamboj became only the third bowler to perform the magic feat in the Ranji Trophy, Haryana could not seize the advantage as the match ended in a draw with Kerala getting the first-innings lead.

Debasis Mohanty | 10/46 vs South Zone

Debasis Mohanty was the fifth Indian bowler, the only bowler in the Duleep Trophy, to pick up all ten wickets in an innings in a first-class match.

Playing for East Zone, the medium pacer recorded impressive figures of 10/46 against South Zone in the first innings of a Duleep Trophy match at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala in January 2001.

It was a dream spell for Mohanty as he raced through a star-studded South Zone batting line-up which included Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, all-rounders Sridharan Sriram and Sunil Joshi. He picked up four more wickets in the second innings and powered East Zone to a four-wicket win in the contest.

Anil Kumble | 10/74 vs Pakistan

Anil Kumble became the first Indian bowler, the second in international cricket, to dismiss all the batters in an innings in Test cricket when he picked up 10/74 against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi in February 1999.

Chasing 420 for a win, Pakistan were cruising at one stage with the openers putting on a century partnership. From then on, it was all Anil Kumble as Pakistan slid from 101/0 to 207 all out.

The leg-spinner bowled one of the most memorable spells Indian cricket has ever seen to power the home side to a 212-run win on day four. India levelled the two-match series, on the back of Kumble’s heroics, after going down to Pakistan in the first Test in Chennai.

Photo credit: Imago