"Zaheer Khan was someone..." - James Anderson reveals his learnings from Indian great

England pacer James Anderson opened up about the learnings he got from the Indian great Zaheer Khan. He said that he used to watch the former Indian pacer a lot and kept a keen eye on how he used to reverse swing the ball.

James Anderson no doubt is one of the best fast bowlers to have played Test cricket. The England pacer has achieved almost everything in his career and even after that, his hunger to play for the national side is something that is commendable.

Even in his 40s, James Anderson is running like a youngster, and with the way he is performing, it seems that he will continue for a few more years. The fast bowler is aging like a fine wine and even in the presence of youngsters, he is carrying the load of the England bowling attack, which speaks a lot about his caliber.

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James Anderson is in terrific touch with the ball in the ongoing Test series against India. The fast bowler has oozed his class on the spin-favoring tracks and has helped his team with wickets at the crucial junctures of the game. What has been admirable is even in some patches when he didn’t take wickets, he made sure he applied pressure and didn’t leak runs.

James Anderson, who is approaching 700 Test wickets, said that he learned from Zaheer Khan as to how the former India pacer used to cover the ball. Speaking to Jio Cinema, he explained:

“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.”

James Anderson also heaped rich praise on Indian counterpart in Jasprit Bumrah, pointing out how he removed Ollie Pope with a pinpoint yorker. He believes that India has a world-class bowling attack. He elaborated:

“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. 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.”

You always want to play against the best players – James Anderson on missing Virat Kohli

James Anderson further talked about his longevity, saying that he doesn’t feel like he is 41 years and 200 days old. He believes that age is just a number for him. The England speedster added:

“Yeah, I guess you do look at things like that, but to be honest, I just go with the feel of me and my body. I don’t feel like I’m 41 years and 200 days old. You know, I still feel young. I can keep up with the young guys in training. I can still bowl at the speeds that I want to, I can still deliver the skills that I want to. So, for me, that’s the most important thing. Age is just a number and it’s pretty irrelevant from my thought process.”

James Anderson further said that Jasprit Bumrah’s spell in the second Test with the new ball was one of the best spells he has ever seen. He also believes that it’s a shame that Virat Kohli didn’t play in the series as he wanted to play against the best. He added:

“The way Bumrah’s bowled, I think, has been amazing to watch. That reverse swing spell in the second Test was one of the best you’ll see. For me, I think there are still people out there wanting. You always want to play against the best players. And it’s been a shame that he’s not been a part of the series. We have had some great battles over the years.”

James Anderson will be next seen in action when England will be facing India in the last Test of the series. The match will be played in Dharamsala from 7th March.