Having made his Test debut in 2003, England pacer James Anderson started his 22nd year in Test cricket on Friday in Visakhapatnam.
Anderson hadn’t played any professional cricket since the Ashes 2023 in July last year. He also had a poor Ashes series wherein he took only 5 wickets at an average of 85.
But, the veteran proved once again why he is hailed as arguably the greatest pacer of all time by returning with brilliant figures of 17-3-30-1.
James Anderson, who started this game with 690 scalps in 183 Tests under his belt, dismissed Shubman Gill for the 5th time in Test cricket, and Gill now averages a poor 7.8 against the 41-year-old.
James Anderson breaks Lala Amarnath’s 72-year-old record in Tests in India
At 41 years and 187 days, James Anderson is now the oldest pacer to have played a Test match in India. The previous record holder was Lala Amarnath, who featured in a home Test in 1952 at the age of 41 years and 92 days.
This is a testament to the incredible longevity of Anderson, who has kept himself upskilling and fit to endure the changing times in Test cricket and yet remains one of the best in the world in the longest format. Even if the wickets seem to have dried up, Anderson is crucial for his side with the elite control that he provides.
On what was one of the best batting pitches in India in Test cricket in the past few years, James Anderson managed a superb economy of only 1.8 and even kept a lid on the attacking India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who finished the day with 179* runs in 257 balls. Against Anderson, Jaiswal only managed 8 runs in 47 balls as the pacer mostly bowled in the channel and didn’t give Jaiswal any room or length to free his arms.
Blud started with Anderson vs Sachin, then Anderson vs Kohli, and now gonna end with Anderson vs Gill. 🙏 https://t.co/vQoFV1MVd5
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) February 2, 2024
India ended Day 1 in Vizag at the score of 336/6, and it would be the visitors who would be the happier side given it was a good batting surface and the India batters barring Jaiswal threw their wickets away.
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