England’s pace sensation Stuart Broad has hailed former Australia great Glenn McGrath after equaled his tally for most wickets in Test cricket. On Day 3 of the Oval Test Broad scalped his 563rd wicket in the format to go level with the former Aussie great. While speaking to the broadcasters, Broad denied comparisons with McGrath and said he is one of his heroes.
"He's (McGrath) a hero of mine. I feel like I don't really deserve to be in that sort of category, to be honest, and obviously he's played a lot less games," Broad told Sky Sports after the third day of the Test,” Broad said after he equaled McGrath for most wickets in the Test format.
After scalping Anrich Nortje on Day 3 of the Oval Test, Broad equaled the tally of McGrath and now has 563 wickets in 159 Tests. The versatile bowler has also come in handy with the bat at times and has the best score of 169 in Tests. He has scalped 19 fifers and on three occasions he has got a 10-wicket haul.
"He (McGrath) was great, one of the greatest bowlers of all time in my opinion. but it feels very special to hopefully get one more and join my mate Jimmy as a one-two in that list of seamers," Broad added.
Broad surpasses McGrath
On day 4 of the Oval Test, Borad surpassed McGrath for most wickets after he dismmsed Dean Elgar for 36. Currently, Broad’s teammate James Anderson holds the accolade for most wickets by a pace bowler in Test cricket.
The list is currently led by Muttiah Muralitharan who scalped 800 wickets in the format while he is joined by another former Australia player Shane Warne. The spin great snared 708 wickets in the format before he bowed out in 2007. Anderson is currently third in the rankings while former India captain Anil Kumble is also on the list with 619 wickets to his name.
