Former England captain Nasser Hussain expresses his support for James Anderson’s return to form against India

Jimmy Anderson had struggled to make a major impact during the recent Ashes series against Australia.

London: Former England skipper Nasser Hussain believes it wouldn’t be correct to write off James Anderson yet. He has backed the veteran pacer to return to form and make an impact during England’s tour of India in the new year.

Anderson struggled to make a major impact during the recent Ashes series against Australia. The 41-year-old struggled to generate much movement with the ball as he managed to get five wickets for the series at an average of 85.40 in his four Test appearances.

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It was not the desired Ashes return Anderson would have hoped for. He is universally known as one of the best pacers in modern times. The fact that he has the most Test wickets (690) of any fast bowler in the history of Test cricket strengthens this claim.

The recent retirement of his partner in crime Stuart Broad leaves Anderson with more responsibility to bear as he continues to walk closer to the twilight of his career. Hussain believes the experienced right-armer is ready for the challenge and can flourish against India on the sub-continent. “I think especially with Broad going, I would like that experience (in India),” Hussain said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.

“Chris Woakes has stated that he’s not that keen anymore of playing away from home and his record’s not great away from home. We’ll see, he (Woakes) might change his mind. There’s been a lot of mind changes recently. But if you don’t have Woakes and you don’t have Broad, you will need that experience of someone like Jimmy Anderson,” Hussain added.

Anderson has had an excellent record against India, six of his 32 five-wicket hauls in Tests are against Rohit Sharma’s side and his average in the Asian country (29.32) is quire decent in comparison to other places he has featured in.

“Jimmy’s got a very good record against India and you need a balanced attack. You need that experience for younger players to come in. Listen, Jimmy’s had a bad or an average couple of months, but you are a fool if you’re writing off Jimmy Anderson. I spoke to him in an interview yesterday and he was like, the hunger is still there. He’s already thinking about how to get back to his best,” Hussain added.

“He’s already thinking about going back in the nets and working hard at his game and that’s a good sign for me that he’s still got that hunger. He’s, what, 10 wickets away from 700, and that will keep him going for a while yet,” Hussain signed off.