james-anderson1

The biggest challenge for the Indian team during the England Test series will be how the batsmen fare against England s James Anderson. Anderson, England s highest wicket-taker (540) in Tests, has had his impact in the last three series against India in England (2007, 2011 and 2014), claiming 60 wickets in 12 Test matches.

Anderson vs Ind in Eng
Year Tests Wickets
2007 3 14
2011 4 21
2014 5 25

And even though, at 35, the Burnley-born bowler may have passed his prime but he sure has ruffled the feathers ahead of the series taking a well-placed dig at Virat Kohli.

It doesn t matter if he gets runs or not? I think he is telling lies there, said Anderson in an interview to PTI, going on to add that the Indian skipper will be desperate to score runs for his team.

Anderson had Kohli s number four summers ago during England s 3-1 series win, getting his wicket four times in six innings. That series was Kohli s low point as a Test batsman, with a measly 134 runs at 13.40 in five Tests.

Matches Wickets BBI BBM Avg Strike-Rate 5W/I
12 60 5/42 7/77 25.88 51.2 3

In fact, Anderson has had the number of most Indian top-order batsmen in England. He has removed Sachin Tendulkar five times and Rahul Dravid four times in seven matches; has had Murali Vijay s wicket four times and Gautam Gambhir s three time in five matches. Shikhar Dhawan and Wasim Jaffer have fallen to Anderson three times in three matches.

Add to that the wickets of Virender Sehwag (two times in two matches), Cheteshwar Pujara (two times in three matches) and Abhinav Mukund (once in two matches).

Anderson vs India top-order
Batsmen Matches Dismissals
Sachin Tendulkar 7 5
Virat Kohli 5 4
Rahul Dravid 7 4
Murali Vijay 5 4
Gautam Gambhir 5 3
Shikhar Dhawn 3 3
Wasim Jaffer 3 3
Virender Sehwag 2 2
Cheteshwar Pujara 2 3
Abhinav Mukund 1 2