In 1999, while playing against Pakistan, Kumble dismissed all ten batsmen in a Test match innings, joining England's Jim Laker as the second player to achieve the feat.

Unlike his contemporaries, Kumble was not a big turner of the ball, but relied primarily on pace, bounce, and accuracy.

He was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, where the title was shared with Sri Lanka.

From 2020 to 2022, he served as the head coach and the director of cricket operations of the IPL team Punjab Kings.

[10][11] Kumble was born on 17 October 1970 in Bangalore, Mysore State (now Karnataka), to Krishna Swamy and Saroja who both hail from Kumbla near Kasaragod, Kerala.

[19] Kumble made his first-class debut for Karnataka against Hyderabad on 30 November 1989, taking 4 wickets and bagging a king pair.

[23][24] This performance helped him earn a place in the Indian side that toured South Africa and Zimbabwe.

It was during the 1992 Indian tour of South Africa that he established himself as a quality spinner, taking eight wickets in the second Test.

[45] In October 1996, Kumble along with Javagal Srinath helped India to win a scintillating ODI match against Australia in Bangalore in the Titan Cup.

[49] Kumble was the leading wicket-taker by a large margin when Australia visited India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1998.

[50] Kumble is one of three bowlers ever (the other two being Jim Laker of England in 1956 and later, Ajaz Patel of New Zealand in 2021) to have taken all ten wickets in a Test innings, taking 10 for 74 runs.

[60] On 10 December 2004, Kumble became India's highest wicket-taker when he trapped Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh to surpass Kapil Dev's haul of 434 wickets.

Kumble also played for ACC Asian XI against ICC World XI in the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal ODI match on 10 January 2005 held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which was organised for the charity purpose for 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami victims.

[63] On 10 August that year, Kumble scored his maiden Test century, making an unbeaten 110 against England at the Oval to help his team finish with 664.

Later he trapped Monty Panesar leg before wicket to finish the innings and overtake McGrath in the list of all-time wicket-takers.

[70] Kumble achieved the record just after the tea break when he had Andrew Symonds caught by Rahul Dravid at first slip.

[75] Kumble agreed to honour his contract with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise of the Indian Premier League after retirement.

[76] On 18 April 2009 he took a five-wicket haul conceding just 5 runs in 3.1 overs against the defending champions Rajasthan Royals, which helped RCB get a 75-run victory in the second match of the 2009 edition, played in South Africa.

[77][78] After the departure of Kevin Pietersen for England's cricket commitments, Kumble was named as the captain of the team.

On 23 May 2009, RCB defeated the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets and earned a spot in the final against the Deccan Chargers.

[84] After his retirement from IPL as a player, RCB appointed him as the chief mentor for the team, where he led them to the 2011 final against the Chennai Super Kings.

[84] Kumble left that position in January 2013, moving to a similar role with the Mumbai Indians, which he quit in November 2015 after delivering them 2 titles in alternative years.

Kumble was a right-arm leg spin bowler (legbreak googly) with an unorthodox style, most famous for his flipper.

His unique bowling style can be attributed to matting pitches in Bangalore which assist top-spin and over-spin.

[90] He also holds the world record for the largest number of caught-and-bowled dismissals in Tests, 35 – which forms 5.65% of his total wickets.

Palpably, he has lacked the turn of Warne and Murali, but his variety has been subtler, far more apparent to batsmen than to viewers.

[95][96] Kumble has been appointed to the athlete's commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with his term starting on 1 January 2009.

[100] On 24 June 2016, Kumble was appointed as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team by the BCCI for a period of one year.

[101] On 20 June 2017, Kumble resigned from the post of head coach due to untenable differences with the then captain, Virat Kohli.

[103] In October 2019, he was appointed as the head coach and the director of cricket operations for Kings XI Punjab.