James Anderson, the 3rd highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket and highest for England overall, has revealed the perfect delivery to get the Master Blaster aka Sachin Tendulkar. Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket alongside his longtime bowling partner Stuart Broad in September this year, Anderson was describing the perfect way to get various batters out. Tendulkar, one of his bucket list scalp, was one of them.
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The mode of dismissal for Tendulkar was LBW (Leg Before Wicket) and the ball that Anderson described is something he has mastered over the years.
“Again, Nipping back, LBW”, said Anderson to Sky Sports Cricket.
Anderson dismissed Tendulkar nine times, the most by any bowler in Test cricket (Brett Lee got him out 14 times including all International matches). Of those nine dismissals, Tendulkar has been bowled twice, caught four times around, and out LBW thrice over in his career.
Anderson, who can swing the ball both ways, did the very same against the Little Master, far too often setting him up for that one vicious delivery. If Tendulkar could resist the temptation to drive and leave the out-swinging ball patiently over long periods, it was the one that came back sharply and wrapped him on his pads. That was the one area that Anderson exploited against him.
With 15,921 runs and 51 Test hundreds, Tendulkar offers very little weakness in his game. However, if any, the ‘in-swinging nip back’ was one of them. The three times Anderson got him out LBW were at Lords in 2007 when he was batting at 37, at Lords again in 2011 when his score was 12, and at Trent Bridge in that same series while he was at 56.
Anderson mentioned “Again”, since he more-or-less described a similar delivery to dismiss Steve Smith as well. Anderson also dismissed Tendulkar three times in ODIs – all of them being caught by a fielder.
James Anderson Also Reveals Best Way To Get Virat Kohli Out
After Tendulkar, revered as the ‘God of Cricket’ in India, if the country saw any prodigy in all formats, including Tests, it is Virat Kohli. Having idolized the Master Blaster, Kohli followed in his footsteps perfectly. However, the Delhi-born star batter too fell victim to Anderson far too many times.
Anderson dismissed Kohli on 10 occasions – seven times in Test cricket, and thrice in ODIs so far. He is the joint-highest with Moeen Ali and Tim Southee. Thus, proving his dominance against arguably the best batter in the world right now.
In the same clip as above, Broad and Anderson also discussed the best way to get Kohli dismissed.
“Similar. Try and nick him off”, said Broad. Following that, Anderson added, “Little bit wider”.
Both English bowlers were previously discussing how to get Ricky Ponting out and Anderson mentioned “swing it away” and keeping it fuller. This is “similar” to Kohli, except it has to be fuller and wider, presumably because the impulsive batsman will leap in to drive the ball and get a nick, giving a dolly to the slip cordon.
Of the 7 times Anderson dismissed Kohli in Tests, all of them have been caught by other fielders. Similar has been the case across ODIs as well. Such has been Anderson’s mastery in getting Kohli’s nick or edge of the bat, that he did it every single time he got him out.
The series that especially comes to mind is the 2014 India tour of England under MS Dhoni. India played five tests and lost 3-1 after drawing the first one and then winning at Lord’s. Anderson got the better of Kohli four times in that series alone, and every single cricket pundit started writing off Kohli in English conditions, especially against their highest wicket-taker of all time.
Kohli answered them all in 2018 when India toured again. He scored 593 runs in the five-match Test series and didn’t give his wicket to Anderson even once in the entire series. Although India lost the series 4-1, they came close to winning a couple of them and gave England a run for their money.
