Legendary Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble celebrated his 48th birthday on Wednesday, with former teammates Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman taking to Twitter in order to express their love and admiration. 


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Tendulkar, who is considered one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game described Kumble as a "dear friend" as well as a "champion". "To a dear friend and a champion. Happy Birthday, @anilkumble1074!" read the tweet. 



Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag was equally effusive with his praise, hailing the 48-year-old as one of India's greatest match winners and a man who defined grit and courage. He further had words of praise for the leg-spinner's exceptional bowling capabilities, hailing his toe-crushing yorkers as skills which even fast-bowlers would struggle to execute. 



Fellow spinner Harbhajan Singh termed Kumble, who is India's most successful test bowler with 619 wickets, as his "idol" and "inspiration", wishing him success at every stage.



VVS Laxman, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara were amongst the other members of the cricketing fraternity who expressed their best wishes. 





Kumble also enjoys the unique distinction of being the second bowler ever to pick 10-wickets in an innings in Test Cricket which he achieved against Pakistan on February 7, 1999 at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.