The steady stroll to 200 Test wickets, from Kallis to Ishant

For a bowler, every 100th wicket he takes is a milestone of sorts. Ishant Sharma achieved a special landmark — that of getting to 200 Test wickets — when he trapped Angelo Mathews in the second innings of the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo. Ishant is the fourth Indian pacer to make an entry into the 200-wicket club after Kapil Dev (434), Zaheer Khan (311) and Javagal Srinath (236).

The landmark was even more special because it opened the gates for India to win their first Test series on Sri Lankan soil in 22 years. However, amid all the praises and celebrations that followed, the slowness of the achievement was not lost. Ishant is one of the slowest to 200 Test wickets.

Who are the bowlers slower than Ishant? Wisden India looks at the top five players, ranked by the number of innings they took to achieve the milestone. He is perhaps one of the best allrounders the game has seen, but Kallis holds the dubious record of being the slowest to 200 Test wickets. Kallis achieved the milestone in his 102nd Test – against New Zealand in Johannesburg – when he dismissed Stephen Fleming in the second innings.

South Africa went on to win the match and Kallis ultimately ended his career with 292 wickets from 166 matches, at an average of 32.65.

But add 13289 runs to that, and the time he took to get all those wickets don’t really matter.(Criccinfo)