Top 5 major cricketing moments that occurred during James Anderson's career timespan ft. India's title victories in all ICC white-ball tournaments
James Anderson will go down as the greatest England pacer to grace the cricket field in red-ball cricket. With 700 Test wickets to his name, he ranks third on the list of most scalps in the longest format.
Interestingly, Anderson has a chance to dethrone second-placed Shane Warne (708) by picking more than eight wickets in the ongoing game against West Indies, which is set to be his last appearance in an England jersey.
The 41-year-old made his international debut in an ODI fixture in December 2002, and since then has been a match-winner for the side. Through all these years, there have been notable achievements by England and other players/countries and developments.
Let's take a look at the five major moments that transpired during Anderson's career.
#5 England winning T20 World Cup on two occasions
After failing to manage a deeper run in the first two T20 World Cups, the English side were impressive with their performance to progress to the knockouts of the 2010 T20 World Cup. They prevailed over Sri Lanka in the semi-finals and aced the challenge against their arch-rival Australia in the final to win their maiden T20 WC title under Paul Collingwood.
The next big occasion arrived for England in 2022, when they dominated India by 10 wickets in the semi-finals. Then, the Jos Buttler-led side chased down the target of 139 against Pakistan to lift their second T20 World Cup.
#4 Introduction of day-night Test with pink ball
The main reason why the day-night Test was introduced was to gain more viewership during prime time and also allow people to attend the evening/night session in the stadium after their work.
The pink ball was used due to its brightness being more than the red ball, and the cameraman could track it relatively easily in the night.
The first Pink Ball Test was played in 2015 between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. Since then, a total of 22 day-night Tests have been played, with the next one being scheduled between India and Australia in December 2024.
#3 Carlos Brathwaite hitting four consecutive sixes to win T20 World Cup 2016 for West Indies
It was a magical night for Carlos Brathwaite on April 3, 2016, as he helped West Indies to prevail over England in a stunning fashion at Eden Gardens.
Batting first, England posted a modest total of 155 on the board, with Joe Root (54) emerging as the top contributor. Then, West Indies were in a spot of bother as they lost quick wickets, but Marlon Samuels (85*) held one end strong to keep the team in the hunt.
With 19 needed off the final over, Brathwaite smoked four sixes on the trot against Ben Stokes to pave the way for the first team to become two-time World T20 Champions.
#2 Rohit Sharma became the first man to score three ODI double-centuries
After Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score an ODI double century against South Africa in 2010, no one would have thought of any batter achieving the feat on multiple occasions.
India's opening batter, Rohit Sharma returned with a sensational knock of 209 off 158 against Australia in November 2013. Exactly, one year later, Sharma slammed 264 off 173 balls against Sri Lanka, with 33 fours and nine sixes.
'Hitman's stunned the cricketing world by hitting his third double century against Sri Lanka in December 2017 and remained unbeaten on 208* off 153 balls.
#1 India became the champion in all three ICC white-ball tournaments
In 2007, the Indian team made a major turnaround in the ICC events. After crashing out of the opening round of the ODI World Cup, they became the inaugural T20 World Cup champion under the leadership of then-youngster, MS Dhoni. The final game witnessed them secure a five-run victory over Pakistan.
Then, the Indian team brought joy to Indian cricket fans as they lifted the 2011 ODI World Cup at home by beating Sri Lanka. Two years later, India went on to win the Champions Trophy by securing a thrilling four-run victory over England.
Thus, India became the first team to win all three ICC white-ball tournaments, with Dhoni being at the helm in all of them.