Barring pacers Stuart Broad and Steven Finn, none of the England bowlers have played a Test in India before. The England bowling looks depleted, though they have got some exciting medium-pacers and a variety of spinners.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

With the kind of bowling that England have at their disposal, their captain Alastair Cook’s joy knew no bounds when he was given the news that their most prolific wicket-taker James Anderson is arriving in India earlier than expected.

The 34-year-old right-arm medium-pacer Anderson missed the Bangladesh series due to stress fracture on his right shoulder and has since recovered completely, clearing the fitness test on Friday. He was originally to “play a part at some point in England’s winter programme” and was to miss a major part of the India tour.

Cook was delighted about Anderson’s early arrival. He said on Saturday here: “It's really good news. He's probably a week ahead of where we thought he was going to be. He's ready to come out, so it's about trying to get him out to Rajkot as quick as we can.

“I heard he may be on the same flight as Straussy (Andrew Strauss, England’s director of cricket) on Tuesday. It's great news, he's worked incredibly hard to get back. Speaking to the guys at Loughborough (where Anderson was undergoing rehab), and speaking to him, there's no more he can do there. He's got the all clear. It's about him acclimatising and getting some time in the nets. It's great that he's put the effort in, rather than take the easy option and come back in July, he wants to make a difference in this series,” Cook said.

Besides swinging with the new ball, Anderson has developed the art of reverse swing with the old ball in the latter years that he has become a major threat with this weapon. “In these conditions, the experience of knowing how to take wickets and passing on the experience to the bowlers, James and Stuart are big leaders of this bowling attack. For six-seven years they have been pushing the side forward and leading the bowling. The number of wickets they have got in all conditions, their experience will help other guys,” Cook said.

On Anderson’s last trip to India in 2012-13, he ended up with 12 wickets, learning the art of reverse swing from India’s Zaheer Khan.

While Cook said that he had to see Anderson and take a decision as to when he could play, he did not rule out a possibility of Anderson’s return to action in the second Test in Visakhapatnam from November 17.

Cook said: “We will not know until we see him, but just chatting to him yesterday and a couple of days before, the second Test is a possibility. We'll know more when his body reacts to being here,” Cook said of Anderson, who has 463 wickets in 119 Tests.