James Anderson has dismissed Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara most times in Tests

James Anderson has achieved something special: he has been a nemesis for Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Kumar Sangakkara — 3 of the top 5 run-getters in the history of Test cricket. Bharath Seervi looks at the bowlers who dismissed the top-run getters most number of times and also the batsmen whom the top bowlers dismissed most often.

It is obvious that most top run-getters in Test cricket have been from the recent generations, as are some of the top wicket-takers. There have been various bowler vs batsman rivalries between the best. And a bowler’s worth is often measured with who he dismisses more often or has troubled with his deliveries.

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Neither is he the greatest bowler in Test cricket and nor the best of his era, but James Anderson has established himself in his own ways which others failed to. Among the top five run-getters in Test cricket, three have lost their wickets most number of times to James Anderson. The top five run-getters in Tests are — Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289), Rahul Dravid (13,288) and Kumar Sangakkara (12,400). All five have retired and their career aggregates and statistics will stand the same forever. READ: Sachin Tendulkar’s nine dismissals will always be treasured, says James Anderson

Thus fact that Anderson has dismissed Tendulkar, Kallis and Sangakkara most frequently in their Test careers would stay as it is. Anderson has dismissed Tendulkar 9 times in 14 Tests, Kallis 7 times in 15 and Sangakkara 7 times in 8. Kallis was dismissed 7 times by Shane Warne as well in 18 matches.

These batsmen played against other great bowlers as well, who are usually considered better than Anderson. Anderson has still achieved to dismiss these giants more frequently. Warne has also dismissed two of the top run-getters most times in their career. He dismissed Kallis and Dravid most often in their career.

Let’s see by whom the highest run-getters in Tests were dismissed most number of times. The table below lists all batsmen with 7,500 or more Test runs:

Top batsmen dismissed most number of times in their career by (7,500-plus run-getters)

–    Curtly Ambrose was the one who dismissed the Waugh twins (Steve and Mark) and Mark Taylor — three major Australians of 1990s — most times in their Test careers.

–    Warne has dismissed Kallis and Dravid most times in their career — the second and fourth highest run-getters in Tests. He was the one who dismissed Alec Stewart most times as well.

–    Dennis Lillee topped the lists for Viv Richards and Geoff Boycott.

–    Anil Kumble dismissed Shivnarine Chanderpaul (still active) and Inzamam-ul-Haq most times in their career.

–    Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton 19 times and Brian Lara 15 times. McGrath dismissing Atherton 19 times is the record for the most dismissals by a bowler to a batsman.

–    Harbhajan Singh was the most successful against top two Aussies of 2000s – Ponting and Matthew Hayden.

–    At present Mitchell Johnson has been the most effective against Alastair Cook (still active), Ian Bell (still active) and Graeme Smith.

–    Stuart Broad dismissed Michael Clarke and AB de Villiers (still active) most times.

–    Michael Atherton was dismissed 19 times in 17 matches by Glenn McGrath.

–    VVS Laxman was dismissed 7 times by Ajantha Mendis in 6 matches.

–    Mohammad Yousuf was dismissed 9 times in 8 matches by Muttiah Muralitharan.

–    Geoff Boycott wad dismissed jointly most number of times by Garry Sobers. Interestingly, Sobers’ record of most Test runs (8,032) was surpassed by Boycott.

Now let’s see who the top wicket-takers dismissed most number of times in their Test career.

–    Atherton was the batsman who fell over 10 times to 4 different bowlers in their Test career: 19 times to McGrath 19, 17 times to each of Courtney Walsh and Ambrose, and 11 times to Allan Donald. READ: 10 bowlers and their bunnies in Test cricket

–    Ian Botham and Bob Willis both dismissed Kim Hughes most times in their career.

–    Zaheer Khan and Johnson (both left-arm seamers) dismissed Smith most number of times in their career.

–    Zaheer has also jointly dismissed Hayden most times. Hayden was the one who Makhaya Ntini dismissed most often.

–    Similarly, Clarke is the batsmen whom Dale Steyn and Broad have dismissed most times in their Test careers. But both bowlers are active while Clarke has retired and figures may change in future.

–    Ntini has dismissed Marcus Trescothick, Hayden and Chris Gayle (all left-handers) most times in his career – 9 each. Chaminda Vaas has also dismissed Gayle most times.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)