NEW DELHI: Indian skipper Anil Kumble announced he was retiring from Test cricket with immediate effect, bringing down the curtain on a glorious international career.

“The decision to retire was very tough,” Kumble, 38, said. “When you have played the game for 18 years and so competitively at that, it does become difficult.” The ace leg-spinner said the finger injury that he sustained on Friday helped him make up his mind.

Kumble, who took 619 wickets from 132 Tests, thanked his teammates and family for their support. “I shared the dressing room with some of the great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Venkatsai Laxman besides the younger lot like Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. It has been a great experience and a great journey.” The Indian stalwart said it would have been a fitting farewell had his side won the third Test. Kumble is India’s most successful bowler ever. He trails only Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia’s retired Shane Warne in the world’s highest wicket-takers’ list. He picked 337 wickets from 271 One Day Internationals before quitting the shorter version of the game last year.

His announcement came at a venue where he claimed all 10 wickets in an innings, the only bowler to have attained this feat after England’s Jim Laker.