- By Vishal Pushkar
- Wed, 28 Feb 2024 05:31 PM (IST)
- Source:PTI
Among the current crop of Indian pacers, James Anderson was left impressed by Jasprit Bumrah's exceptional skills, describing him as a "great exponent" of reverse swing. Anderson, who himself a master of swing bowling, acknowledges Bumrah's ability to effectively utilize reverse swing, highlighting the Indian pacer's prowess in this aspect of bowling.
Bumrah's talent and effectiveness with reverse swing have earned him recognition and admiration around the world.
Asked about Bumrah's match-winning performance in the second Test against England, Anderson said, "With someone of his quality you expect that standard from him. You know that reverse swing can play a big part in India and he's a great exponent of it. He's got good pace and is very accurate, very consistent.
"That yorker we saw to Ollie Pope, he's got that up his sleeve as well. It's not a fluke that he's got to number one in the world. He's a world-class bowler and from our point of view we weren't surprised that he put up a performance like that."
The seasoned Englishman added, "There are not many better bowlers than Bumrah, Shami and Siraj. They're world-class bowlers. You put Ishant Sharma in there as well, and that's a really strong bowling attack."
James Anderson, England's greatest fast bowler with an unparalleled longevity and nearly 1000 international wickets, says he has learned a few elements of pace bowling, including reverse swing, from Indian great Zaheer Khan.
At 41, Anderson continues to lead the England attack and is two short of becoming the first fast bowler in the history of the sport to breach the 700-wicket mark.
Spin legends Muttiah Muralitharan and the late Shane Warne are the only bowlers with 700 plus wickets in Test cricket.
"For me, Zaheer Khan was someone I used to watch a lot to try and learn from. How he used the reverse swing, how he covered the ball when he ran into bowl, that's something I tried to sort of develop on the back of playing against him quite a few times here," Anderson told JioCinema.
Zaheer, one of India's finest seamers, played his last Test in 2014 when Anderson was at the top of his game.
Inputs from PTI