NEW DELHI: England’s James Anderson became the first seamer to take 700 Test wickets. Anderson dismissed Kuldeep Yadav on Day 3 of the fifth Test match at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium to reach the feat.
The 41-year-old is only behind Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800).
Anderson has reached the milestone in 187 Tests, at an average of 26.52.
Speaking on TNT, Anderson’s former captain and teammate Alastair Cook said: “I think the greatness came when he honed his skills in 2010, when people said he could only take wickets in England when it was swinging.”
Fellow fast bowler Steven Finn said: “He always made you feel awful as a bowler, I remember fielding at mid-off and watching him shouting at himself when he bowled one bad ball in a brilliant spell.
“It was that attention to detail and always making sure he was mentally on it to deliver. He’s not lost pace or zip or bite off the surface and is even posting photos of himself topless on Instagram.”
The England seamer has taken 434 wickets at home and 266 wickets in overseas. Anderson e has taken 117 wickets in Ashes, with 68 of them in Australia, making it his most successful country outside of England.
Anderson has made his debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s in 2003. His first Test wicket was Mark Vermuelen.
Since making his debut, Anderson has been the mainstay of England’s attack.
Anderson also played 194 one-day internationals for England between 2002 and 2015 taking 269 wickets, while he claimed 19 victims in 18 T20 internationals.
Agencies

Agencies