VISAKHAPATNAM: When James Anderson walks out for his 184th Test on Friday, he will become one of the oldest to feature in the format in India in the 21st century. If the visitors bowl first, the age difference will be tangible straightaway. If and when he bowls to Yashasvi Jaiswal, he would be bowling to a batter who wasn't born when he made his domestic debut. At some point, Anderson will likely be replaced by debutant Shoaib Bashir.
When Bashir was born, the 41-year-old had already played seven Tests. If Ben Stokes prefers to replace Anderson with Rehan Ahmed, it will be starker. When Ahmed was born on August 13, 2004, the Lancashire-born seamer was playing his 10th Test. The other frontline bowler in the visitors' attack — Tom Hartley — is 24 and has played one game. Any way you look, the bowling attack they have named for the second match is incredible.
What it hides, though, is the trust the management has placed in the veteran to lead a bowling attack in what is likely to be hot and unfavourable conditions for seamers.
Anderson, of course, felt some of those conditions in Hyderabad when he was tasked with carrying the drinks at various points. From the outside, it may not look like a huge deal but skipper Ben Stokes pointed out what he brings to the table, even when he's not actively contributing by bowling. "I think that's just Jimmy's attitude," he said during the pre-match press conference. "If people can understand when they are not part of the playing XI that they can still have a huge influence on Test match week, then that is great. It's small things like being 12th man when it's hot, lads need rehydrating and we need to concentrate the whole time with guys coming on and off the field. Even guys who aren't in the XI have a real understanding that they are contributing, albeit not physically in the game."
While it was almost a given that Anderson would come in place of Mark Wood, the management isn't just picking the former on some rotation basis. Stokes pointed out that his record in India tends to go under the radar. "Bringing Jimmy's experience, the class that he has is great. I think it also goes under the radar."
That's true. Out of all visiting bowlers to have bowled in India since 2000, Anderson is second-best for wickets (34). He has an economy rate of 2.65 with an average of 29.32. In his last series on these shores — 2021 — he somehow improved on those numbers. Eight wickets at an economy of 1.92 while averaging 15.87. Even though people remember Joe Root's match-winning double in the first Test, it was Anderson who broke the hosts with a narrative-changing 3/17 across 11 overs on the final day. Two of those three wickets saw him hooping the ball to breach the defences of Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane. On Thursday, Stokes hoped for more of the same on Friday and beyond. "Bringing Jimmy in, we just feel like there’s a bit more I can turn to him for. Not only his new ball skills; reverse skills, his off-cutter skills and stuff like that."
What he also offers is control, both with the new and the old ball. In these conditions, a pacer's main role could just be to tie one end up. Stokes knows his super senior is more than capable of that. That may well be needed. The alliance of Rohit Sharma and Jaiswal may be in its infancy but it's already on the verge of blossoming. In nine innings, the pair are averaging 74.1 while going at almost 4.2 per over. Anderson, then, almost feels like one step in a 2FA process if Rohit and Jaiswal want to continue to score quickly.
"He has different skillsets that I will be able to exploit in Indian conditions," Stokes continued. "It's not just picking Jimmy for the new ball, it's the other stuff he possesses as well. It's great that Jimmy is doing good things for the old boys out there. It's huge credit and lots of people should look up to Jimmy considering he is where he is at 41."
There is also the tantalising prospect of Anderson reaching 700 Test wickets. If it happens over the next few weeks, his legacy will keep growing.
