Anshul Kamboj on Friday became the sixth Indian to take 10 wickets in an innings in first-class cricket.
The Haryana pacer took all 10 wickets in Kerala’s first innings in the Group C Ranji Trophy game that is being played at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium on the outskirts of Rohtak.
Kamboj, 23, had taken eight wickets by stumps on Thursday and pocketed the remaining two on Friday to become the third cricketer to achieve the feat in Ranji Trophy. His figures read 30.1-9-49-10.
That Haryana do not have the upper hand in the game despite Kamboj’s feat is another story. While Kerala were all out for 291, the hosts limped to 139/7 when the stumps were drawn on Friday.
Overall in first-class cricket, it’s the 90th instance of a cricketer taking all 10 wickets in an innings. England’s Jim Laker, India’s Anil Kumble and New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel are the only ones to do so in Test cricket.
Kamboj, who hails from Karnal in Haryana, began playing serious cricket only at the age of 14 and has made impressive progress since then.
The last 12 months have been special for him. Kamboj took 17 wickets in 10 games with an economy of 3.58 as Haryana went on to win the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year. He had an eight-wicket haul in a Duleep Trophy game while playing for India C and last month, he was a part of the India Emerging squad at the T20 Asia Cup.
Kamboj also earned his maiden IPL contract earlier this year when he was roped in by the Mumbai Indians. He played three games in IPL 2024, taking two wickets. Given his form, one assumes he will be in demand at the upcoming player auction.
