Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on James Anderson for his performance on the first day of the second Test against India at the Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The veteran pacer was the most economical bowler for them on the first day.
James Anderson missed out on the first Test in Hyderabad. He was brought into the team for the second game. Anderson dismissed Shubman Gill in the innings for 34 runs and finished with an economy of just 1.76 after bowling 17 overs. Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Anderson’s ability to beat the batters on the off stump. He said on EspnCricinfo,
“Anderson 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.”
“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 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 added.
It’s a bit of a blast from the past: Sanjay Manjrekar
James Anderson is approaching the 700 Test wickets milestone. He has taken 691 wickets in the format, the most by a pacer in the history of the sport. Only two bowlers have taken more than that, both are spinners – Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. Praising James Anderson, Sanjay Manjrekar said,
“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.”
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