With England set to travel to India for the upcoming five-match test series, the seamer James Anderson opens on the side’s bowling strategy for the series.
James Anderson on England’s Bowling strategy for India Tests
The Veteran pacer James Anderson opens up on the possibility of England’s bowling unit for the upcoming Test series against the Men in Blues in India.
The Side is set to play a five-match test series in England’s tour of India 2024 starting next week. England had never won a test series in India since the 2012/13 season. On this occasion, Anderson believes that it requires a unique bowling strategy for Indian conditions.
He said that the side might be forced to take two spinners in the squad to counter the spin-friendly conditions in India.
Among four spinners in the squad, Leach is the only experienced spinner among Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, and Shoaib Bashir. The side is currently training in Abu Dhabi.
“There are only four seamers going, so we will not be expecting to bowl a huge amount of seam. It is just a slightly different role,” Anderson told media.
“You might not bowl the overs you do in England, but they are still important. It probably puts more importance on spells you do bowl. These are the things we will pass on to the guys.
“Reverse swing will play a big part. There might be occasions where we don’t open with a seamer. We might open with two spinners,” said the 41-year-old.
The Veteran pacer has a good record in India, having claimed 39 wickets. Despite his weak performance in the Ashes series last year, feels that he still has some game left inside him.
“The training I have done this winter, I feel like age is just a number,” he continued.
“…people will always look at my age when it comes up on the screen when I come on to bowl, but for me, it is irrelevant. It is how you feel as a cricketer, and I know I can still dive around in the field and put a shift in with the ball just like I have done for the last 20 years.
“I feel the last five years have been the best of my career. Although the Ashes did not go as well as I wanted it to, there have been many series when I have not bowled well throughout my career, and it is just a case of putting in the hard work to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he concluded.
India and England will be playing their first Test starting on January 25 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
