London: England’s pace spearhead James Anderson has disclosed that southpaw batter Kuldeep Yadav had predicted that he would be the veteran fast bowlers' 700th Test wicket during the fifth and final Test between England and India.
Anderson picked the wicket of Kuldeep to complete his 700 Test scalps, becoming the first-ever pacer and overall third bowler after Sri Lanka’s legendary off-spinner Muthaih Muralidharan (800) and late veteran Australia spinner Shane Warne (708) to achieve this rare feat in Test cricket history.
On the third of the fifth and final Test against India, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah started the day at 473/8 and in the process, the southpaw batter told the 41-year-old right-arm pacer that he had a strong feeling that he would become his 700th Test wicket.
Speaking at the BBC’s Tailenders podcast, Anderson said,
“Kuldeep edged one down to third man for a single. As he got to the non-striker's end, and as I was walking back to my mark, he said: 'I'm going to be your 700th wicket'. He wasn't saying he was trying to get out, he was just saying he had a feeling. We both laughed at it," he remarked.
Anderson, who has played the second most Test matches after Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, asserted that the moment was special but would have been more joyous if England had finished on the winning side in the series which they lost 1-4.
"I didn't celebrate, there was nothing to celebrate. Obviously, that was a nice moment to achieve the feat on a picturesque ground. I would have felt a bit more excited if we would have won," the 41-year-old pacer said.
"I don't play cricket for milestones, I play cricket to win matches for my team."
Anderson said despite the defeat, there were plenty of positives to take home.
"I really enjoyed this tour, obviously we lost 4-1, the results weren't that great but we stuck together really well as a group. There were young spinners and batters who will learn so much from this tour," Anderson, who has the most Test wickets against India in India, said.
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