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 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 could 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. Further, the Master Blaster took to social media and congratulated the 41-year-old.

“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.