Former England captain Nasser Hussain thinks it would be foolish to write off James Anderson and has backed the veteran pacer to return to form and make an impact during his side`s tour of India in the new year.
Anderson struggled to make much of an impact during the recent Ashes series against Australia, with the 41-year-old unable to generate much movement with the ball when managing just five wickets for the series at an average of 85.40 from four Test appearances.
It was an uncharacteristic Ashes return for Anderson, who is universally renowned as one of the best pacers in modern times and the fact he has the most Test wickets (690) of any fast bowler in the history of Test cricket only further strengthens this claim.
The recent retirement of fellow quick Stuart Broad leaves Anderson with more responsibility to shoulder as he enters the twilight of his career and Hussain believes the experienced right-armer is up for the challenge and can prosper against India on the sub-continent.
“I think especially with Broad going, I would like that experience (in India),” Hussain told host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“Chris Woks said he is tired of playing away and has not done particularly well away.
“Let’s see, he (Woks) might change his mind. ” There has been a lot of change in opinion lately. But if you don’t have Walks or Broads, you need the experience of someone like Jimmy Anderson. Six of his 32 five-wicket strokes in Test have come against Rohit Sharma’s side, and his average in the Asian nation (29.32) is even higher than elsewhere he has played. Passable.
“Jimmy is doing very well against India.” India…and needs a balanced attack. For young players to come in you need that experience,” Hussein said.
“Look, Jimmy has had some terrible or average months, but you’re an idiot if you ignore Jimmy Anderson.”
“He’s already thinking about getting back to the net and working hard on the game. It’s a good sign that he still has that hunger.” He is 10 wickets away from 700 and has enough tiers in their bowling ranks to more than be able to do well in India, so will keep him going for some time.
“Jack Leach will (hopefully) come back and Rehan Ahmed is a very good second spinner as we saw in Pakistan,” said Hussein.
“Josh Tang bowled really well. Ollie Robinson is a very skilled bowler.
