Veteran England pacer James Anderson has revealed that Kuldeep Yadav had a hunch about being his 700th Test wicket when the two came face to face during the fifth and final Test against India in Dharamsala. Anderson became the first pacer and third bowler to take 700 Test wickets on March 9 with Yadav being his landmark scalp. It was Anderson’s 187th Test appearance.
“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’,” Anderson said BBC’s Tailenders podcast.
“He wasn’t saying he was trying to get out, he was just saying he had a feeling. We both laughed at it.”
Anderson, however, said the moment would have been more joyous had England 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 was plenty of positives to take home from the away series.
“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,” he said.
Anderson on Tuesday revealed what he said to star Indian batter Shubman Gill in their exchange of words during the fifth and final Test between both sides at Dharamsala. On Day three of the match, England’s ageless pace wonder Anderson had become the first pacer ever to reach 700 Test wickets. One of his two victims during India’s first innings was Gill, who had scored a fine century, concluding what could be a breakthrough Test series after a string of low scores on a high. Just before Gill had reached his century, he exchanged some words with the 41-year-old pacer.
When asked in the post-day press conference, Gill had said as quoted by Wisden on his exchange with Anderson, ” I think it would be better for both of us to keep that chat in private.”
Now, Anderson has spilled the beans. Talking on BBC Tailenders Podcast as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Anderson revealed that he taunted Gill about his overseas Test record.
“I said something to him like, ‘Do you get any runs outside India?’ and he said, ‘It’s time to retire. Then two balls later, I got him out,” said Anderson.
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