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On the final day of the third Test match between England and Pakistan, James Anderson managed to achieve the monumental feat of bagging 600 Test wickets.
Centurion from the first innings, Azhar Ali, became Anderson’s 600th victim in red-ball cricket. With the completion of Anderson’s much-anticipated feat, congratulatory messages began pouring in for the English legend on social media.
Legends of the game, Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Shoaib Akhtar led the way by congratulating the ‘GOAT’ of the game.
Indian stars Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav and Ishant Sharma also chimed in by lauding the only pacer to reach the 600-wicket mark in Test cricket.
Ashwin’s request for a ‘healthy’ debate
Even India’s Test specialist, Ravichandran Ashwin, had a special message for the Lancashire man, which he conveyed through his tweet.
In his post, Ashwin touched upon the infamous ‘Mankad’ incident which took centre-stage in the 2019 edition of IPL and has lingered along ever since.
Ash reckoned a bowler of the stature of Anderson might help his cause in restoring a greater balance between the bat and ball.
“An extraordinary bowler @jimmy9 goes past yet another milestone. What a bowler and what an achievement !! Well done and look forward to having a healthy debate on the runout and shredder ASAP! Someone like you can really help to settle the stigma surrounding it,” Ashwin tweeted.
An extraordinary bowler @jimmy9 goes past yet another milestone. What a bowler and what an achievement !! 💯💯 Well done and look forward to having a healthy debate on the run out and shredder ASAP! Someone like you can really help settling the stigma surrounding it. 🙌🏻🙌🏻
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) August 25, 2020
Ashwin’s Mankad dismissal opened a can of worms in the cricketing fraternity and divided them in two.
One school of thought questioned the morality of the dismissal subjected to the ‘spirit of the game’. While the others saw no harm in the dismissal, professing the legality of it.
It would be interesting to see which school of thought does the ‘GOAT’ of the game would back.
Ashwin’s Delhi Capitals’ head coach, Ricky Ponting, recently condemned the act and has affirmed that there would be no ‘Mankad’ under his watch.
