Fellow ‘All 10-man’ Sunderam hails Kamboj

Pradeep Sunderam; (right) Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj v Kerala yesterday. Pic/HCA

Former pacer Pradeep Sunderam, who claimed all 10 wickets in a Ranji Trophy in 1985-86, reckons Haryana paceman Anshul Kamboj's All 10 show against Kerala on Friday is an achievement of a lifetime.

Kamboj, 23, claimed 10-49 against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘C' game in Rohtak and entered the record books to become only the third bowler in the history of Ranji Trophy to bag all 10 wickets in an innings. Earlier, Bengal pacer Premangshu Chatterjee (10-20 v Assam in 1956-57) and Rajasthan's Sunderam (10-78 v Vidarbha in 1985) enjoyed this special feat in the national championship.

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Thanks to Kamboj's fiery bowling (30.1-9-49-10), Kerala were all out for 291 in their first innings. "Tremendous performance… it's a once-in-a-lifetime feat, a great achievement. I am very happy to have him [Kamboj] in our club," Sunderam told mid-day on Friday.

When Sunderam, 64, learnt about Kamboj's feat on Friday afternoon, he recalled his game against Vidarbha: "I must have been around 27 or 28 when I took all 10 wickets. He [Kamboj] has a very good future. When somebody informed me about his achievement, I replied: ‘Brilliant, at least somebody has done it. This is a record you cannot break, only equalled.'

"It's too early for him to have achieved this feat so my message to him is keep working hard. You have set a milestone and I strongly believe if you work on the same trend you might come across many other records and this may lead to playing for the country as well."

Sunderam claimed 145 wickets from 40 first-class games. "My father [GR Sunderam] played for India, but I could not. My mother once asked my dad, ‘You played for India, but have you taken 10 wickets in an innings?' Playing for India is one thing and taking all 10 wickets in an innings at any level is totally different and a big thing," Sunderam signed off.