Veteran England pacer James Anderson had an impressive outing on Day 1 of the 2nd Test match in Vizag. Anderson, playing his first game of the series was at his impressive best and picked up the wicket of Shubman Gill in the morning session of the day. Anderson finished Day 1 with an economy of just 1.76 after bowling 17 overs on a flat batting track.
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar lauded the veteran and said that Anderson’s ability to beat batters on the off stumps is a rare thing.
“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,” Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.
IND vs ENG, 2nd Test: Day 1 Report
Anderson trapped Shubman Gill and then remained economical, despite the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring at a healthy rate. In comparison to Anderson, the rest of the England bowlers gave away runs at 3.5+ per over, resulting India in scoring 336 runs at the end of the day’s play.
“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,” Manjrekar said on the pacer.
IND vs ENG, 2nd Test: Scorecard
The Vizag game is Anderson’s 184th Test match. Shubman Gill was Anderson’s 691st Test wicket with the pacer chasing the magic figure of 700 wickets. Only two bowlers in the history of cricket have more wickets than Anderson in Test cricket – Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
“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,” Manjrekar concluded.
