Sanjay Manjrekar said that James Anderson would pose a bigger threat to the Indian batters in the Vizag Test than Mark Wood in the Hyderabad Test.
On Thursday, February 1, England named their playing XI for the second Test and replaced Wood with Anderson. Wood was left out of the team after he failed to pick up a single wicket in the opening Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
“There’s no doubt about the fact that he will do a little better than Mark Wood, who went wicketless in the first Test. So, that actually adds to the strength of the English bowling attack,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
Anderson has a decent Test record on Indian soil, having picked up 34 wickets from 13 matches with 2 four-wicket hauls to his name.
Overall, Anderson has taken 139 wickets from 35 Tests against India with 6 five-wicket hauls to show for his efforts. The 41-year-old is also 10 wickets short of becoming the third bowler after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan to pick up 700 or more wickets in Test cricket.
Apart from bringing in Anderson, England had to make a forced change after Jack Leach was ruled out due to an injury on his left knee. In place of Leach, the Three Lions roped in young Shoaib Bashir, who is set to make his debut.
Manjrekar said that Bashir coming in would give some relief to Joe Root, who ended up bowling 48 overs in the first Test.
“It is also good in a way for England as Joe Root had to shoulder the burden when he bowled 29–30 overs. Whether it had some impact on his batting is something England need to consider,” Manjrekar added.
England won the Hyderabad Test by 28 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series. Ben Stokes and Co. will now want to tighten the screws on the home team at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
