KL Rahul scores a self-goal while congratulating James Anderson on Twitter, deletes post

KL Rahul made a huge blunder while congratulating James Anderson on social media after the latter registered 600 Test wickets during Day 5 of the third and final Test match against Pakistan at Ageas Rose Bowl, Southampton on Tuesday. However, once Rahul realised that he had messed it up completely, it was just a matter of time before the post was deleted by Team India's white-ball specialist. 

COMEDY OF ERRORS

It so happened that Lokesh had posted a still from a 2018 Test match between India and England where he could be seen standing at the non-strikers' end while Jimmy is in his follow-through i.e. about to bowl from the other end. He then congratulated Anderson by mentioning that the opening batsman was one of his victims in the longest format out of the 600 wickets that he has taken and then hailed the 38-year-old's 'Amazing Feat'. 

Nonetheless, he rectified the error by deleting the post before he became a subject of jokes on social media. The Karnataka batsman then went on to post a still from the recently concluded Test match where  James can be seen celebrating after having registered his 600th Test scalp and Rahul labeled him as a 'GOAT' (Greatest Of All Time).

Anderson joins the elite club

James Anderson is the only pacer to pick up 600 wickets in international cricket i.e. including Tests and One Day Internationals. Jimmy now becomes the fourth-highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket after the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (709), and, Anil Kumble (619) respectively. While Muralitharan was an off-spinner, his counterparts Warne and Kumble were leggies. 

The Moment of Glory

The veteran Test specialist achieved this feat by getting rid of Pakistani Test skipper Azhar Ali on Day 5. It happened in the 62nd over of Pak's second innings.

On the second delivery, Anderson bowled one around off stump as the batsman was completely taken by surprise and was carried away by the extra bounce and before he could react, it was too late as the ball took the outside edge of his bat and went straight into the hands of Ali's opposite number Joe Root who took a regulation catch at the first slip.

There was a lot of delight in the English team and Jimmy was seen waving his arms to the empty stadium after having reached the milestone.