Hyderabad: England pacer James Anderson has hinted on the possibility of England opening the bowling attack with spinners from both the ends in the upcoming Test series against India starting from January 25.
Men in Blue will play the series opener from January 25 in Hyderabad against England and the visitors are coming in with four specialist spinners in the squad. Jack Leach, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir will comprise the spin department for the English side. However, Jack Leach is the only experienced spinner in the team who has played Test cricket in India.
The pace battery comprising Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson will complement the spin department. Reflecting on the strategy England are going to adopt for the upcoming series, Anderson stated that the English team might opt for opening the bowling two spinners while playing against India.
"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," he told 'The Daily Telegraph'.
"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."
The 41-year-old is going strong in the Test cricket, taking 690 wickets from 183 matches so far. Also, he has 39 wickets to his name in the Test cricket while playing in India. Anderson stated that age is just a number of his and he has worked hard to prepare for the series.
"The training I have done this winter, I feel like age is just a number. 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," he added.
"I feel the last five-six 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.
Read More
