James Anderson, one of Test cricket’s greatest fast bowlers, is drawing curtains on his international career. Having made his debut in December 2002, Anderson went on to become the most prolific fast bowler in international history.
His ability to swing the ball as he set up batters has become part of cricket folklore as he took truckload of wickets – 990 and counting (across formats) to set new records.
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Anderson faced some of the greatest batters during his career and picked the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the best he has bowled to. “The best batter I would have to say is Sachin Tendulkar,” Anderson told Sky Sports.
During his career, Anderson dismissed Tendulkar 12 times – 9 in Tests and thrice in ODIs. And he says there wasn’t any specific gameplan against his great rival but no avoid bowling a bad ball.
“I don’t remember having a specific game plan against Sachin Tendulkar. Once he came on, I would just think that I cannot bowl a bad ball here, he was that kind of player,” Anderson said.
“He was a key for India as well. If you get him out in India, the whole atmosphere, in the ground changes. He was such a big wicket,” Anderson he added.
Tendulkar scored heavily against England in Test cricket – 2535 runs in 32 Tests at an average of 51.73 including seven hundreds and 13 half-centuries.
Anderson says he always aimed to trap Tendulkar LBW early on in the innings.
“You just try on bowling your best ball, top of off-stump, the whole time and hope he miss a straight one. In England, he might nick the odd one, but generally, I’d try and get him out LBW early. I had some success against him, but he had success against me as well. He got runs against us quite a lot,” Anderson said.
The 41-year-old Anderson looked emotional as his family run the bell at the history Lord’s for his final Test. Prior to the start of the contest, the pacer said his focus is firmly on performing on the field and not break into tears.
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