James Anderson has accounted for a total of 619 Test wickets in his career so far and it goes without saying that he will eventually break Anil Kumble's record.
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England fast bowler James Anderson achieved a unique milestone on Thursday, when he dismissed Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Day 2 of the first of the five-match Test series between the two countries. Anderson equalled legendary Indian bowler Anil Kumble’s record as he became the joint third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game. The pacer has taken a total of 619 wickets in his career so far. It goes without saying that Anderson will eventually break Kumble’s record. It is also the first time the England pacer has dismissed Kohli since 2014. He is only behind Kiwi pace Tim Southee in the list of bowlers that have dismissed the Indian skipper the most with nine dismissals. Southee has 10.
Anderson also became the first bowler in the history of the game to dismiss Kohli for a golden duck in his 1st innings. In Test cricket, Anderson has bowled a total of 566 deliveries to the current Indian skipper. He has conceded only 236 runs and gotten the better of him six times. In one-day internationals, Anderson holds the edge as well. Kohli has faced 38 Anderson deliveries and scored only 26 runs. He has been dismissed three times. It can be said that Anderson is one of those bowlers that Kohli has just not been able to figure out yet.
However, it is not just Kohli that the veteran English pacer has been a menace to. Anderson has been around a long time and is undoubtedly one of the greatest bowlers to ever play the game. He has been around since the times of Tendulkar and has adjusted his own game with the times. His brilliant figures prove that fact. Anderson has dismissed master blaster Sachin Tendulkar 13 times in his career and world cup-winning skipper MS Dhoni 10 times. Three generations of the top Indian talent have somewhat struggled in front of the wily veteran.
For Kohli, however, it is yet another unwanted record. The Indian skipper has been dismissed without opening his account in Test cricket a total of 13 times now. Six of those dismissals have come against the three lions.
The Indian bowlers did a fantastic job of restricting England to just 183 in the first innings of the first Test match. The total did not seem daunting at all and the way openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started the match, it felt like India would easily get a score in excess of 300. However, after Sharma’s dismissal on 36, the Indian batting lineup fell off the tracks for a bit.
Test cricket specialist Cheteshwar Pujara was the next batter but he could only make four runs. A brilliant Anderson delivery deceived the veteran batter, and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler took the catch after Pujara had nicked it. The next one to the pitch was Kohli. Fans held their breath as one of the best batters in the world walked out to the middle. Anderson, however, had other plans. Another brilliant delivery saw Kohli nick the ball straight to Buttler. The skipper was out for a duck on his first delivery. Ajinkya Rahane also failed to impress as he was run out on five runs.
India currently stand at 124-4 with Rahul still batting on 57 runs and wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant on 7.
