The retiring English James Anderson revealed Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar as the toughest batter bowl to during his last Test match at Lord's on Thursday, July 11. Having played 188 Tests, second most after Tendulkar, Anderson engaged in many battles with the Indian great since his debut in 2003 and highlighted the importance of his wicket.
The 41-year-old right-arm pacer famously dismissed Tendulkar nine times in Tests while the latter scored 208 runs in 23 innings to display his unprecedented dominance. Sachin scored 2535 runs in 32 Tests against England at an amazing batting average of 51.73 with seven centuries.
Anderson talked about the impact of getting Sachin's wicket in front of an Indian crowd and how he enjoyed his battle against the former Indian captain.
“The best batter I would have to say is Sachin Tendulkar,” Anderson told Sky Sports on the sidelines at Lord's. “I don’t remember having a specific game plan against Sachin Tendulkar. Once he came on, I would just think that I cannot bowl a bad ball here, he was that kind of player. He was a key for India as well.
"If you get him out in India, the whole atmosphere, in the ground changes. He was such a big wicket. You just try on bowling your best ball, top of off-stump, the whole time and hope he misses a straight one. In England, he might knick the odd one, but generally, I’d try and get him out of LBW early. I had some success against him, but he had success against me as well. He got runs against us quite a lot."
Anderson also picked his famous fifty against India at Trent Bridge in 2014 as the best innings of his memorable career.
“I am most proud of getting 81 at Trent Bridge against India," Anderson added. "I probably should pick a wicket or bowling performance, but getting 81 with the bat, it is just something I still can’t believe I have done.”
