At 41, Anderson becomes first pacer to take 700 Test wickets

PTI, Mar 9, 2024, 10:43 AM IST

England veteran James Anderson added another glorious chapter to his remarkable tale of longevity when he became the first pacer and third bowler to take 700 Test wickets here on Saturday.

Anderson reached the milestone in his 187th Test by removing India’s Kuldeep Yadav caught behind on day three of the fifth Test here. He lured the Indian tail-ender into a drive and induced the outside edge.

The 41-year-old was on 699 scalps overnight after dismissing Shubman Gill with a beauty on day one.

The only other pacer to have taken 600 Test wickets or more is his former teammate Stuart Broad, who retired last year with 604 in the bag.

Sri Lankan spin great Muttiah Muralidaran has 800 scalps to his game, the most in Tests, followed by the late Shane Warne (708). India spin great Anil Kumble is fourth in the all time list with 619 wickets in 132 Tests. 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.