“It’s A Shame”: James Anderson’s Blockbuster Comment On India Star’s Absence In Test Series

If he completes this landmark, he will become the first seamer to do so and third overall after legendary spinners Muttiah Murlidharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).

Before the fifth Test, Anderson opened up on his thoughts about Virat Kohli and the India vs England series.

“I guess English fans will be thankful he’s not playing because he’s such a quality player. But from our point of view you want to test yourself, you want to come up against the best and he’s been someone who I’ve found really challenging to bowl at over the years and it’s a shame he’s not been playing,” James Anderson said on Jio Cinema.

“You know that reverse swing can play a big part in India and he’s (Bumrah) a great exponent of it. 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.”

At 41, Anderson continues to lead the England attack. “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, one of India’s finest seamers, played his last Test in 2014 when Anderson was at the top of his game. Among the current lot of Indian pacers, Anderson is most impressed by jasprit bumrah‘s ability, calling him a “great exponent” of reverse swing.