James Anderson.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Bengaluru: Kuldeep Yadav's name will forever be associated with James Anderson's peak bowling feat after the Indian left-arm wrist spinner became Englishman's 700th Test wicket earlier this year in Dharamsala. It's a pinnacle only two bowlers, and both of them spinners, prior to him have reached and is the only pacer to do so. In fact, no other pacer has gotten even close to 600 wickets.
England were being walloped by India in the final match of the series, but Anderson was over the moon. The celebration had a touch of relief as well for the 41-year-old had arrived in India for the five-Test series, which England lost 1-4, needing exactly 10 wickets to complete a tally of 700. In what was his most underwhelming series against India since 2005, Anderson had laboured to nine wickets after dismissing Shubman Gill in the same Test.
India were sitting pretty at 450-plus for eight, a handsome lead after dismissing England's "Bazballers" for 218. With Kuldeep and Jasprit Bumrah defying England's efforts to limit India's burgeoning lead, a sense of frustration was creeping in among visitors. The desperate attempts eventually paid off when Kuldeep nicked one to slip off Anderson.
Kuldeep, apparently, had told Anderson that he would be the pacer's 700th wicket. It was as though Kuldeep wanted to be that scalp. But no one was complaining at that moment. India were winning and Anderson had picked up another milestone.
However, in the greatest moment of his career, there was also a feeling that he might have been overstaying his welcome. The dismal show in India perhaps compelled the English management to look beyond the ageing warrior and "arrange" a farewell Test for the veteran.
It, thus, ended where it all began 21 summers ago with Anderson appearing for one final time in his sparkling whites for England against West Indies on Friday. He had made his debut at Lord's against Zimbabwe in 2003, etching his name on the prestigious Honours Board for the first time.
A career of over two decades in the fast lane is incredible. It speaks as much about one's durability as about deliverability. Just to illustrate the point: Stuart Broad, Anderson's long-time bowling mate, made his Test debut four years after the Lancastrian did but retired a year before. And Broad himself had a remarkable, even if somewhat under-rated, 16-year career. Even if you take into account that Anderson stopped playing T20Is in 2009 and ODIs in 2015, to last the distance he did is exceptional.
His 188-Test caps are only behind Sachin Tedndulkar's 200 and the closest to him among bowlers is Broad with 167 appearances. Incidentally, Anderson declared on Thursday that Tendulkar was the best batter he had bowled to. And many top Indian batters wouldn't mind returning the compliment for Anderson was one of the toughest bowlers they came across, especially in England. Ask Virat Kohli.
Here's a trivia: Against which country did Anderson claim most wickets? If your answer is Australia, you are way off the mark but you can't be faulted for guessing so. Anderson has 117 wickets from 39 Tests against England's Ashes rivals but he has 149 sticks from the same number of Tests against India.
While he had his moments in India, the majority of those wickets, 105 in 22 matches, came on his home turf. Without a doubt he has been one of the primary reasons why India haven't been able to win a series in England since Rahul Dravid's men in 2007.
Interestingly, Anderson had just 14 scalps in the three-Test series against the Dravid-led side, his least impactful outing against India in England. The last series in 2021 saw his second least impactful performance (21 from five Tests) and India came close to winning it before the hosts managed to draw the Covid-hit rubber.
Sandwiched between these two were three series where Anderson's influence in England's domination was telling. From 2011-12 to 2018-19, Anderson claimed 70 wickets in 14 Tests, spread over three series, at an average of 21.48 and a strike rate of 47.16. India lost those series 4-0, 3-1 and 4-1.
When India travel to England in 2026 to wrest the MAK Pataudi Trophy for the first time in nearly two decades, they would know their biggest hurdle is out their way.