Eng vs Ind: I love it here, Lord's bring the best out of me, says Anderson
Aug 14, 2021
London [UK], August 14 : England pacer James Anderson, who picked a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the second Test against India, on Friday said Lord's "certainly" bring the best out of him.
Anderson said a player wants to put in good performances whenever he plays for England. The veteran seamer said picking seven five-wicket hauls is an "incredible" feat and is hopeful it's not his last time here at Lord's.
"The last few times I have been to Lord's I've thought, 'will it be my last time playing here?' You want to put in good performances every time you pull on an England shirt but it is that extra bit special about Lord's certainly for me," Anderson said in a virtual press conference.
"I made my debut here, got my first five-wicket haul here. To get seven five-wicket hauls here is incredible.
"I love it here and it does seem to bring the best out of me whether that's the wicket or the place itself. Hopefully, it's not my last time here or my last time on the honours board," he added.
Skipper Root Joe Root on Friday surpassed former cricketer Graham Gooch to become England's second-highest run-scorer in the longest format of the game.
Root achieved the feat in the ongoing second Test against India here at the Lord's. The English skipper scored unbeaten 48 runs in the first innings of the second Test on Friday.
Anderson termed Root a "superhuman" and hailed the English skipper for achieving the "amazing" feat.
"Absolutely, Joe has been amazing. Throughout his career, and in this last 12 months in particular with everything that we've been through with the pandemic and pressure on this team, to be able to captain the side, and perform the way he has is nothing more than superhuman," said Anderson.
"I couldn't speak highly enough of him, and every time he goes out, he just shows the class and today was exactly that. It was just his class from ball one. He played the quite comfortably," he added.
Root has now 8935 runs under his belt and is only behind former England skipper Alastair Cook, who has scored 12472 runs in Tests.
Root is batting steadily on 48* as hosts went to stumps at 119/3 on Friday evening here.
Earlier in the day, India were bowled out for 364 after the visitors scored 88 runs and lost seven wickets on Friday.
