It all started way back in Test no. 1512 at Bangabandhu National Stadium Dhaka in Nov 2000 – the unlikely hero was Sunil Joshi… a left arm spinner who took 5 for 142 in the 1st innings and took 3 for 27 enabling an Indian win…….. in between, he top scored with 92 ! and that was the Test Shiv Sundar Das, Syed Sabha Karim and Zaheer Khan debuted.
Zaheer has certainly come a long way to take his 300th wicket in his 89th Test…… a personal landmark – may not be exceptional as there are already 26 bowlers in that elite club with 3 Indians Harbajhan, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble above him………. The fastest to reach that landmark is Dennis Lillee in 56; Muthiah Muralitharan in 58; Richard Hadlee, Malcolm Marshall and Dale Steyn in 61 tests………. The topper now is Muthiah Muralitharan with 800; Shane Warne 708; Anil Kumble 619; Glenn Mcgrath 563; Courtney Walsh 519 and Kapil Dev 434….Remember the Chepauk Test when India beat Clive Lloyd’s strong team in Pongal 1975 and Govt declared a holiday doubling the celebration…………….. though it was Andy Roberts who excelled in bowling, Lance Gibbs the off spinner also played in that test………… and that way he was a known figure. Heard of the feat of 300 wickets a few years later, as Lance Gibbs reached that landmark went past Fred Trueman and with 309 test wickets in 79 Tests including 18 five fors – appeared as if, would remain perched at the top for long…………. That was what I knew about Cricket in 1980s (that happened in Dec 1981) and in Aug 1986, Dennis Lillee broke that landmark setting up 355; Ian Botham upstaged pushing it to 373; Richard Hadlee took it up further beyond 400 and in 2000 on a day to celebrate, our own Kapil Dev finished at 434 wickets…. Only to be overtaken by Courtney Walsh @ 519 – it hovered between Murali and Share Warne – and finally Murali retired with sort of unscaleable 800 wickets……….With regards – S. Sampathkumar.