Root enjoying the evergreen Anderson while he can
Joe Root has every right to be optimistic that “special commodity” James Anderson can stick around to keep helping England win Test matches, after his nine wickets at Lord’s overwhelmed India.
England’s 36-year-old alltime leading wicket-taker was pipped for the man-ofthe-match award by Chris Woakes – whose first century put the hosts out of sight on the way to a 2-0 series lead.
But after Anderson finished with match figures of 9-43 in a superlative all-round bowling performance, which also included star turns from Stuart Broad and Woakes, captain Root made no secret of his delight.
England prevailed by an innings and 159 runs on the fourth evening of a rain-ravaged match, as India were bowled out for 130 – and Anderson and Broad shared figures of 8-67.
Asked about evergreen Anderson, who became the first bowler to take 100 wickets at Lord’s, Root said: “He’s a special, special commodity, isn’t he?
“He’s something that doesn’t come along very often and we’ve got to enjoy him while he’s around. Time and again, he puts in fantastic performances. For him to be performing as he is, is something else.”
Root warns, however, England must not assume their world No 1 visitors are washed-up in a hectic fivematch series which will resume at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
“Obviously, it would be a dream to put in five complete performances and have five wins. But it’s important we don’t get complacent, arrogant. If you get too far ahead of yourself, this game has got a funny way of biting back at you.”
Root’s opposite number, Virat Kohli, has his own aches, pains and concerns about how to galvanise his team, after spending time off the field due to a bad back.
“As of yesterday, it was not great,” he said. “The back is one thing that can be very tricky... but the good thing is I have five days before the next Test. We are confident I should be ready.”
Kohli admitted after the match that his side had not been good enough. He said: “I am not very proud of the way we played.
“We have to be confident, get ahead of the mistake, and not make it again. A side like England, when they play like that, they can outplay anybody.”