Former Indian batter and cricket commentator Sanjay Manjrekar showered rich praise on the senior England speedster James Anderson for his rare skill in outsmarting batters on the off-stump.
After warming the bench in the Hyderabad Test, Anderson was back in England’s playing XI for the ongoing second Test against India in Vizag. He had a wonderful outing on Day 1, and then he got the big fish in the form of double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal on Day 2 in Vizag.
Anderson was at his impressive best and picked up the wickets of Shubman Gill (34), Jaiswal (209), and R Ashwin (20), as he finished the first innings with impressive figures of 3/47 in 25 overs in Vizag.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo: “He is a reminder of the legacy of great fast bowlers we had over the years. He is right at the end of his career, yet, on a pitch that had nothing for him, he had the Indian batters beaten outside off stump. Eventually getting a batter (Gill) caught by the keeper. That is a very rare thing to happen on Indian pitches.”
Praising one of Test cricket’s greats, the commentator said: “He showed his class and the economy tells you how accurate he is as a bowler. And I love the way England uses him. We think he is not bowling enough these days but he is not playing enough.
But when he actually plays, he bowls a lot of overs. In the first session, he bowled eight overs and immediately bowled another three post Lunch. That's a nice way to use a great bowler, wherein when he plays, the opposition batters will get the full brunt of that greatness.”
He signed off by saying, “Every time you see Anderson bowl, it's a bit of a blast from the past when Test cricket was at its highest. There was quality all over the World with the West Indies in the 1980s and then under Mark Taylor the Australians, along with Pakistan and India who had their moments.”
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)
