England’s James Anderson etched his name in history books on Saturday by becoming the first-ever pacer to take 700 Test wickets. He is also only the third bowler overall to do so. The 41-year old bowler achieved the milestone while dismissing Kuldeep Yadav on the third day of the fifth and final Test match against India in Dharamsala.
Marking his achievement, former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar took to social media platform X to congratulate the player. He said, “The first time I saw Anderson play was in Australia in 2002, and his control over the ball looked special. Nasser Hussain spoke very highly of him back then and today, I am sure, he would say, “Maine bola tha” — that he had called it so early.”
https://x.com/sachin_rt/status/1766322811487093025?s=20
“700 test wickets is a stellar achievement. A fast bowler playing for 22 years and performing so consistently to be able to take 700 wickets would have sounded like fiction until Anderson actually made it happen. Simply magnificent!” Tendulkar continued.
In India’s first innings, Anderson took 2/60 in 16 overs, at an economy rate of 3.75. He got the wickets of Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav.
Anderson is England’s highest wicket-taking bowler in Tests. Overall, in international cricket, he is behind Sri Lanka’s spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets in 133 matches) and the late Australian spinner Shane Warne (708 wickets in 145 matches). He also has to his name 32 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls. His best bowling figures in an inning are 7/42.
