England pacer James Anderson achieved yet another milestone in his elusive career as he became the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket. Anderson was 3 wickets short of Kumble’s mark before the start of the first Test against India.
He dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara on the 2nd day to come close to Kumble’s mark and equalled the Indian legend’s record with the scalp of Virat Kohli.
On the 3rd day, Anderson scalped the wicket of KL Rahul to go past Kumble on the list of highest wicket-takers. He now has 621* wickets in his account. While Anderson sits at the 3rd spot on the overall list, he is the only pacer with over 600 wickets in the longest format.
Anil Kumble, who has moved to the 4th spot on the list of highest wicket-takers, took to Twitter to laud England ‘legend’. Elated with a fast bowler getting up there, Kumble wrote: “Congratulations @jimmy9 Fantastic to see a fast bowler get up there. #legend @ECB_cricket.”
Anderson had made his Test debut as a 21-year-old against Zimbabwe at Lord’s. He took a five-for in the first innings and soon cemented his place in the side and also took over the lead pacer’s role. He was also regular in the ODI team and with 269 scalps, Anderson is England’s highest wicket-taker in the 50-over format. He only played 19 T20Is. Anderson hasn’t played an ODI since the 2015 World Cup.
He continued to play Test cricket after being dropped from the ODI team and looks set to serve England for another couple of years.
Overall, the list of highest wicket-takers is topped by Muttiah Muralitharan, who dismissed 800 batsmen. Shane Warne follows him with 708 wickets.
Following Anderson and Kumble is Glenn McGrath, who dismissed 563 batsmen. Stuart Broad, Anderson’s long-time bowling partner, acquires the sixth spot with 523 scalps. He is also expected to breach the 600-wicket mark soon.
