James Anderson, who continues to lead the England attack at 41, says he has learned a few elements of pace bowling, including reverse swing, from Zaheer Khan. The Englishman James Anderson is two short of becoming the first pacer to breach the 700 Test wicket mark. Spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne are the only bowlers to have breached that milestone.
England veteran speedster James Anderson lavished praise on Indian legendary pacer Zaheer Khan ahead of the fifth Test match which is scheduled to be played at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala from March 7.
James Anderson an inspiration to the world at age of 41 years.
Having played 186 Tests and 194 ODIs over the last 22 years, James Anderson’s desire to be competitive remains intact.
On comparing his longevity to other sporting legends, Anderson said, “Yeah, I guess you do look at things like that, but to be honest, I just go with the feel of me and my body. I don’t feel like I’m 41 years and 200 days old. You know, I still feel young.
James Anderson is leading England’s fast-bowling line-up that includes Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson and Gus Atkinson who are playing their maiden Test series on Indian soil. James Anderson is just two wickets away from reaching the milestone of 700 Test wickets. The 41-year-old speedster revealed that he watched Zaheer Khan a lot and learned how he used the reverse swing.
I used to watch a lot to try and learn from Zaheer Khan- James Anderson
English pacer James Anderson said on Wednesday that Indian legend Zaheer Khan was one of his inspirations as a fast-bowler in aspects like using the reverse swing and hiding the ball in the run-up.
James Anderson made his Test debut in 2003, three years after Khan. While the Indian retired with over 600 wickets across formats in 2014, Anderson is still plying his trade at 41-years-old.
Khan was one of the best exponents of the old ball, inspiring a generation of young Indian cricketers to try his methods of reverse swing and the knuckle ball.
James Anderson spoke about how he has been inspired by Zaheer Khan’s bowling and technique.
“For me, Zaheer Khan was someone I used to watch a lot to try and learn from,” Anderson told JioCinema.
“How he used the reverse swing, how he covered the ball when he ran into bowl, that’s something I tried to sort of develop on the back of playing against him quite a few times here.”
After competing with Khan for a decade, Anderson is going head-to-head with the new leader of India’s pace attack – Jasprit Bumrah. The Englishman praised the 30-year-old, complimenting his accuracy and calling him “world-class”.
“With someone of his quality you expect that standard from him. You know that reverse swing can play a big part in India and he’s a great exponent of it. He’s got good pace and is very accurate, very consistent,” he said. “That yorker we saw to Ollie Pope, he’s got that up his sleeve as well. It’s not a fluke that he’s got to number one in the world. He’s a world-class bowler and from our point of view we weren’t surprised that he put up a performance like that.”
Bumrah was the highest wicket-taker of the ongoing Test series between the two countries until the fourth Test, where he was rested. He currently has 17 wickets from three Tests at an average of 13.65. Anderson also has eight wickets at 34.38.
“I don’t feel like I’m 41 years and 200 days old” – exclaims James Anderson
Speaking about his fitness, Anderson said that he felt good enough to compete with all the youngsters on his team, some of whom weren’t even born when he made his Test debut.
“Yeah, I guess you do look at things like that, but to be honest, I just go with the feel of me and my body. I don’t feel like I’m 41 years and 200 days old. You know, I still feel young. I can keep up with the young guys in training. I can still bowl the speeds that I want to, I can still deliver the skills that I want to. So, for me that’s the most important thing. Age is just a number and it’s pretty irrelevant from my thought process,” he said.
The fifth and final Test begins on March 7 in Dharamsala. However much to the promise Ben Stokes and his team failed to deliver as India went on to win the Ranchi Test to take unassailable 3-1 lead over England heading into Dharamshala for the fifth and final test. This loss means that Ben Stokes and his team will now return from Indian shores empty handed and only has to play for World Championship Points in the last test of the series and James Anderson will look to breach record 700 wickets mark in this test.