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James Anderson, England's greatest ever fast bowler who is close to taking 1,000 wickets in international cricket, talked about how he learned a few elements of pace bowling, including reverse swing, from former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan. At 41 years of age, Anderson is still leading the England pace attack and is just two wickets short of becoming the first fast bowler to take 700 Test wickets.
Used to watch a lot to try and learn from him: Anderson
“For me, Zaheer Khan was someone I used to watch a lot to try and learn from. 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,” Anderson told JioCinema.
Zaheer is regarded as one of India's best seam bowlers across Tests and ODIs, performing brilliantly for India, especially during big stages. The biggest example is being the leading wicket-taker in India's victorious 2011 World Cup campaign.
Anderson hails Bumrah as great exponent
Among the current Indian pacers, Anderson is most impressed by Jasprit Bumrah, calling him a 'great exponent' of reverse swing.
“With someone of his (Bumrah) 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," said Anderson.
“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. There are not many better bowlers than Bumrah, Shami and Siraj."
They’re world-class bowlers. You put Ishant Sharma in there as well, and that’s a really strong bowling attack.” he added.
Having played 186 Tests and 194 ODIs over the last 22 years for England, Anderson’s desire to be competitive is still visible.
On comparing his longevity to other sporting icons like himself, 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."
“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 added.
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