Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar lauded England's James Anderson for completing 700 Test wickets and becoming the first-ever pace bowler to do so, saying that a fast bowler playing for two decades and picking 700 wickets sounded like fiction but Anderson had made it happen. Anderson etched his name in history books on Saturday, becoming the first-ever pacer in the history of the sport to complete 700 wickets in Test cricket and overall only the third bowler to do so. The ageless English pace wonder, who will be turning 42 this July, achieved this milestone during India's fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sachin talked about his first-ever impression of Anderson when he first saw him play against Australia back in 2002. The batter said that back then, his control over the ball looked special.
"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! #INDvENG," tweeted Sachin.
In India's first innings, Anderson managed to take 2/60 in 16 overs, at an economy rate of 3.75. He got the wickets of Shubman Gill and Kuldeep Yadav.
Anderson, who made his Test debut for England in 2002, now has 700 wickets in 187 Test matches. These have come at an average of 26.52 and a strike rate of 56.9, with 32 five-wicket hauls and three ten-wicket hauls to his name. His best bowling figures in an inning are 7/42.
He 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 spin great Shane Warne (708 wickets in 145 matches).
Anderson has had a fine outing in India this year. In four Tests he has played, Anderson has taken 10 wickets at an average of 33.5, with the best bowling figures of 3/47.
Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat first. They were bundled out for 218 in their first inning. Zak Crawley (79 in 108 balls, with 11 fours and a six) top-scored for England, while Jonny Bairstow (29), and Joe Root (26) also chipped in crucial runs.
Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) were the top bowlers for India.
In their first innings, India once again dominated with the bat. The top order, consisting of Yashasvi Jaiswal (57 in 58 balls, with five fours and three sixes), skipper Rohit Sharma (103 in 162 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Shubman Gill (110 in 150 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes) dominated the English bowling.
Debutant Devdutt Padikkal (65 in 103 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (56 in 60 balls, with eight fours and a six) also played crucial knocks. After some quick wickets, the pair of Kuldeep Yadav (30 in 69 balls, with two fours) and Jasprit Bumrah (20 in 64 balls, with two fours) put up a 49-run stand to take India to 477, giving them a lead of 259 runs.
Shoaib Bashir (5/173) was the pick of the bowlers for England. Tom Hartley and James Anderson took two wickets while Ben Stokes got a wicket.
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