Anderson hails Tendulkar as the greatest batter he's bowled against

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jul 10, 2024 16:27 IST

Veteran England seamer James Anderson has hailed legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest he’s ever bowled against. Notably, Anderson is set to retire from Test cricket after the ongoing first Test against West Indies at Lord’s. The 41-year-old has played the second most number of Tests in the history of the game (188) and picked 700 wickets at an average of 26.52 and an economy of 2.79.

In his 21-year-long Test career, Anderson has picked the wickets of several legendary batters with Tendulkar being one of them. Ahead of his final game, he was asked about the greatest batter he’s bowled against and the England seamer named Tendulkar.

“The best batter I would have to say is Sachin Tendulkar," Anderson told Sky Sports.

Notably, Anderson had several memorable moments against Tendulkar in Tests having dismissed him nine times. Along with Tendulkar, Anderson has also dismissed Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke and Azhar Ali nine times in his career.

The batter Anderson has dismissed most number of times in his illustrious career is India’s Cheteshwar Pujara dismissing him a whopping 13 times. Former Australia opener David Warner has been also dismissed ten times by the veteran England seamer.

Anderson recalls his highest Test score vs India

Further speaking ahead, Anderson also called Michael Clarke’s dismissal from Ashes 2013 at Trent Bridge as his favourite wicket. The right-arm seamer beat the then-Australia captain’s outside edge to hit the top of his off stump with a dream delivery.

The Lancashire-born cricketer further called his innings of 81, the most proud achievement of his career. Notably, Anderson registered the highest score of his Test career against India during the first Test of the series in 2014 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. He walked to the crease with England on 298/9 trailing India by 159 runs and added a world record 198 runs for the last wicket along with Joe Root (154*).

Anderson registered his only half-century of his career scoring 81 (130) with the help of 17 fours. Meanwhile, the veteran seamer will be eager to retire on a high in his last Test by levelling or surpassing the legendary Shane Warne (708 wickets) to become the second-highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket.