James Anderson, who continues to lead the England attack at 41, says he has learned a few elements of pace bowling, including reverse swing, from Zaheer Khan.
The Englishman is two short of becoming the first pacer to breach the 700 Testwicket mark. Spinners Muthiah Muralidaran and Shane Warne are the only bowlers to have breached that milestone.
“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, that’s something I tried to sort of develop on the back of playing against him quite a few times here,” Anderson, who has taken eight wickets in three Tests during the ongoing series, told JioCinema.
Zaheer, popular among teammates as Zak, played his last Test in 2014 when Anderson was at the top of his game. Among the current Indian pacers, Anderson is most impressed by Jasprit Bumrah’s ability, calling him a “great exponent” of the reverse swing.
“You know that reverse swing can play a big part in India and he (Bumrah)’s a great exponent. He’s got good pace and is very accurate, very consistent.
“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,” Anderson added.
PTI
