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Warne breaks world record

October 15, 2004 13:01 IST
Shane Warne reached the magical figure of 533 wickets- Test cricket's pinnacle- displacing Muttiah Muralitharan with the wicket of Irfan Pathan in India's first innings of the second Test at Chennai on Friday.

It is hard to predict how long Warne will be able to enjoy his apex position as Murali will be gearing himself to grab his world record once again, but right now Warne is Test cricket's new bowling king.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see how the world record of being the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket has changed hands over the years. The following table shows the progress of wicket aggregate records in Test cricket. The date column shows when the new record was set and the last column shows the target set by the record holder when he was overtaken by the next player on the list.

Wkts Bowler Date Match Venue Test No. Target
8 A.Shaw 19-03-1877 Eng v Aus Melbourne 1 9
9 T.K.Kendall 31-03-1877 Aus v Eng Melbourne 2 15
15 F.R.Spofforth 04-01-1879 Aus v Eng Melbourne 3 18
18 G.E.Palmer 20-02-1879 Aus v Eng Sydney 6 29
29 F.R.Spofforth 29-08-1882 Aus v Eng The Oval 9 33
33 G.E.Palmer 01-01-1883 Aus v Eng Melbourne 10 46
46 F.R.Spofforth 29-01-1883 Aus v Eng Sydney 12 58
58 G.E.Palmer 22-07-1884 Aus v Eng Lord's 15 70
70 F.R.Spofforth 24-02-1885 Aus v Eng Sydney 19 95
95 J.Briggs 12-01-1895 Eng v Aus Adelaide 44 101
101 C.T.B.Turner 04-02-1895 Aus v Eng Sydney 45 102
102 J.Briggs 02-03-1895 Eng v Aus Melbourne 46 104
104 G.A.Lohmann 21-03-1896 Eng v SA Cape Town 49 113
113 J.Briggs 14-01-1898 Eng v Aus Adelaide 55 119
119 H.Trumble 02-01-1904 Aus v Eng Melbourne 79 142
142 S.F.Barnes 13-12-1913 Eng v SA Durban 130 190
190 C.V.Grimmett 04-01-1936 Aus v SA Cape Town 249 217
217 A.V.Bedser 24-07-1953 Eng v Aus Leeds 375 237
237 J.B.Statham 26-01-1963 Eng v Aus Adelaide 538 243
243 F.S.Trueman 15-03-1963 Eng v NZ Christchurch 542 308
308 L.R.Gibbs 31-01-1976 WI v Aus Melbourne 770 310
310 D.K.Lillee 27-12-1981 Aus v WI Melbourne 915 356
356 I.T.Botham 21-08-1986 Eng v NZ The Oval 1051 374
374 R.J.Hadlee 12-11-1988 NZ v Ind Bangalore 1107 432
432 Kapil Dev 08-02-1994 Ind v SL Ahmedabad 1247 435
435 C.A.Walsh 27-03-2000 WI v Zim Kingston 1492 520
520 M.Muralitharan 08-05-2004 SL v Zim Harare 1698 533
533 SK Warne 15-10-2004 Aus v Ind Chennai 1714 ???

Rajneesh Gupta