Sachin Tendulkar in awe of James Anderson's 'fictional' 700 scalps in Tests

England's James Anderson etched his name in the history books by becoming the first-ever seamer to pick up 700 wickets in Test cricket. In the era of franchise cricket, Anderson gave up white-ball cricket much early in his career to prolong his Test career and things stand, there's no stopping Anderson at the moment.

On the Day 3 of the fifth Test against India in Dharamshala, the 41-year-old dismissed Kuldeep Yadav to achieve the remarkable feat. His teammates hugged and congratulated him after the wicket, while the Barmy Army in attendance gave Anderson a standing ovation.

Legendary India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar too lauded Anderson for his incredible feat. He recalled that former England captain Nasser Hussain told him in 2002 that Anderson has the ability to script history. Adding to that, Sachin called the achievement to be ‘simply magnificent’ and lauded him for playing Test cricket so consistently for more than a couple of decades.

It is worth noting that the Lancashire pacer has had the number of the God of Cricket as many as nine times, which makes it the most times that the Mumbaiker batter has been dismissed by an individual in his 24-year-long career. Noting the mark of this stellar achievement by the pacer, Tendulkar took to social media and congratulate the 41-year-old.

Also Read: Jeetan Patel reviews England’s Day 2 in Dharamshala

“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,” Sachin posted on X.

“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,” he added.

To witness a seamer reaching that milestone is ridiculous: Michael Vaughan

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan too lauded Anderson for picking 700 wickets in Test cricket. He mentioned that for a spinner to pick so many wickets is incredible but for a pacer to do it is ridiculous as their bodies, especially back suffer a lot of injuries in general. Vaughan also added that he isn’t sure if any other pace can ever achieve this feat.

“700 Test wickets is incredible for a spinner .. But to witness a seamer reaching that milestone is ridiculous .. I can’t imagine we will see it happen again .. congrats @jimmy9 on reaching heights nobody has reached before & I doubt will in the future,” Vaughan tweeted.