James Anderson surpasses Sachin Tendulkar to achieve massive milestone in Tests

England pacer James Anderson has scripted another record by becoming the cricketer to play most Test matches at home. When Anderson walked out to bowl at The Oval on Thursday, 2 September 2021, he surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to become the player with the most Tests at home. Anderson has now played 95 Tests in England. Tendulkar had played 94 Tests, followed by former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting (92), Alastair Cook (89), Steve Waugh (89), and Jacques Kallis (88). 

Earlier, Anderson had become the first bowler to claim more than 400 Test wickets in England. The 39-year-old had reached the milestone in the third Test against India, where he dismissed Ajinkya Rahane to register his 400th Test wicket at home. Anderson is second to only Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, who had picked 493 wickets while bowling at home. Earlier this year, Anderson had also become the first fast bowler in the history of Test cricket to record more than 600 wickets. He is third on the list of highest wicket-takers in Test cricket and the only fast bowler to feature in the top four.  

The veteran pacer has played 165 Test matches for England and has picked a total of 630 wickets at an average of 26.51. Anderson has played more Test matches for his country than any other England cricketer in the past. He surpassed former England skipper Alastair Cook when he took the field in his 162nd Test match against New Zealand in June this year. 

India vs England 4th Test

As far as the fourth Test between India and England is concerned, Joe Root won the toss and elected to field first. The Virat Kohli-led side already has four wickets with just 74 runs on the board. England pacers struck early by dismissing openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for 11 and 17 runs respectively. Cheteshwar Pujara lost his plot to James Anderson in the 20th over and went for another single-digit score of 4 runs. Ravindra Jadeja came in to bat early in place of Ajinkya Rahane and held the Indian innings until lunch alongside skipper Virat Kohli. However, Chris Woakes managed to dismiss Jadeja for 10 runs after the start of the second session. Kohli (32*) and Rahane (1*) are currently batting in the middle. 

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