England’s James Anderson became the first pacer and third overall to reach 700 Test wickets on Saturday during the ongoing fifth Test match against India in Dharamsala.
The only two other bowlers who have gone past the coveted mark are Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and Australian late Shane Warne. The 41-year-old achieved the feat in the 187th Test when Kuldeep Yadav edged behind to Ben Foakes as the whole stadium stood up to give the Swing King a standing ovation.
Meanwhile, India could only add four runs to their overnight tally to end up at 477, gaining a 259-run first innings lead. Anderson remains at the top of his game, both physically and skill-wise having made his international debut back in 2002. England skipper Ben Stokes had spoken highly of illustrious teammate ahead of England’s final Test on the long tour of India.
“Jimmy coming up to 700 wickets, it’s phenomenal to think about, especially as a seam bowler. Amazing career to date, and I can’t see him stopping. I have played with Jimmy for a long time and I’ve never seen him as physically fit as he does right now.
“Being 41, showing that hunger and desire to get better every single day is testament to his attitude and commitment to the game,” said Stokes. Besides close to 200 Tests, Anderson has played 194 ODIs and 19 T20s. He is 13 short of completing 1000 wickets in international cricket.
Taking to social media, legendary Sachin Tendulkar too praised Anderson. “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.
“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!” said Tendulkar.