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James Anderson surpasses Alastair Cook, becomes most-capped England player in Tests

James Anderson has now become the most capped player for England in Test cricket in the second Test of the series against New Zealand. He has surpassed former skipper Alastair Cook, who featured in 161 Tests for England to become the longest-serving member of the England cricket team. 

Looking back at his long journey at the international level, Anderson said he could barely believe the longevity of his journey on the big stage and also called himself lucky to have a body that kept him going for such a long time.

"I can't believe I have got this far. It's been an amazing journey. I'm lucky that I have got a body that can cope with the rigours of bowling,” Anderson told BBC Sport.

Anderson made his debut in the year 2003 and has scalped 616 wickets during the course. He surpassed Sir Ian Botham's record 383 wickets in Tests in 2015 and became the first England bowler to pick 400 and 500 Test wickets. The Lancashire player became the first fast bowler to scalp 600 wickets. 

Anderson has also been an integral part of four successful Ashes campaigns for England in 2009, 2010-11, 2013 and 2015.

Talking about his fitness, the pacer admitted that he works a lot on his fitness. "I work hard at my fitness and my skills. It also has the hunger to turn up every day to try to get better,” he said. 

England are taking on New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series at Edgbaston. The first clash between the two sides ended in a draw. Both sides made few changes. 

New Zealand were without the services of their regular captain Kane Williamson, spinner Mitchell Santner and wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling. Williamson is missing this match to get some rest for his 'irritated' left elbow while Santner was ruled out of this game with a split left index finger. 

Watling was out of the Test after failing to recover from a sore back. The home side on the other hand were without Olli Robinson who made his debut at Lord’s and picked up seven wickets in two innings. 

He was suspended by the ECB after the racist and sexist tweets that he had posted when he was a teenager had resurfaced. 

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Would continue what this group has been doing over the last couple of years: Tom Latham

New Zealand stand-in captain for the second Test against England, Tom Latham has said that he would certainly continue with the process that has been going on in the team and wouldn’t make much of tweaks when his side takes the field on Thursday at Edgbaston. "For me, it is just about trying to continue what this group has been doing over the last couple of years," Latham said. "We have had some really good results home and away and in different conditions and I certainly would not be coming in and changing things up too much,” he added. Latham would be leading the side in absence of regular skipper Kane Williamson who won’t be playing this match to get some rest for his 'irritated' left-elbow. Williamson sustained an injury during the first Test against England at Lord’s that ended in a draw. The visitors are set to make a few changes as spinner Mitchell Santner has also been ruled out of this game with a split left index finger. Fast bowler Trent Boult who missed the first match is back and available for selection. England on the other side will also be forced to make changes from the last game as Ollie Robinson who made his Test debut at Lord’s has been suspended after some of his sexist and racist posts that he had tweeted a few years back resurfaced on social media. The two-match Test series between England and New Zealand will be followed by the WTC final where Williamson’s side will lock horns with India in Southampton. The match is scheduled to begin on June 18. England will then host India in a five-match Test series in August.

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Was expecting to captain India in World T20: Yuvraj Singh

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has revealed that he expected to become the captain of the national side during the World T20 in 2007. “I was expecting to captain India in the T20 World Cup and then it was announced MS Dhoni will be the captain,” Yuvraj said on the 22 Yarns podcast. The left-handed player played a crucial role in India’s winning triumph in the tournament. Yuvraj’s heroics included six sixes in an over from Stuart Broad while he was up against England and a 30-ball 70 against Australia in the semi-final. India later on defeated Pakistan in the title clash to win the inaugural World T20 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. A number of senior players including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly didn’t feature in the tournament. “So, basically, India had lost the 50-over World Cup, right? I mean there was quite a turmoil in Indian cricket and then there was a two-month tour of England and there was also a month-long tour in between with South Africa and Ireland. And then there was a month of the T20 World Cup so there were like four months away from home,” Yuvraj said. “So probably the seniors thought that they needed a break and obviously, nobody took the T20 World Cup seriously,” he added. The duo of Yuvraj and Dhoni also anchored India to a World Cup win in the ODI format after 28 years in 2011. The Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka in the final in Mumbai to clinch the title.

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Indian team begins preparations for WTC final; undergoes first group training session

The Indian team is set to play the final of the inaugural World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton from June 18. The Virat Kohli-led side had the first group training session. India made it through to the finals of the WTC after beating Australia 2-1 away from home and then thumped England 3-1 on the home soil. The Indian team that defended the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Australia faced a lot of problems both on and off the field during the Tour DownUnder. India’s regular captain Kohli returned back home for the birth of his first child while the team was plagued with injuries. Key players like KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of the series after sustaining respective injuries. To add to this, the Indian players were also racially abused. The visiting team had a horrible start to the tour after they were bowled out for 36 in the first Test but rode on some fine performances from the youngsters to make a comeback. Young guns like Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj took the onus on themselves and anchored India to a win in the four-match series. Kohli’s men then hosted England but had a dismal start to the four-match bilateral tie against the Englishmen as they lost the first match but returned back to form to win the remaining three games and march into the WTC final. New Zealand on the other hand have had some match practice as they are battling it out against England in a two-match Test series. The first match at Lord’s ended in a draw while the second is scheduled to take place at Edgbaston from June 10.