NEWS
Follow UsHaving battled the demons on day one, James Anderson made a swift recovery on day two, ending up with his seventh five-wicket haul at Lord's. Following his spell of 5-62, the 39-year-old called Lord's a special venue and hoped that it wouldn't be his last Test at the venue.
“It (Lord’s) has been special for me. Certainly the last few times I’ve come here you think: ‘Will this be my last time playing here? It is a place where I made my debut, my first five-wicket haul and I love it here, whether it is the wicket or the place itself, it always gets the best out of me. So hopefully it’s not my last time here, and hopefully, it’s not my last time on the honours board.”
When Joe Root walked out to the middle, England had just lost two wickets off two balls, which put them under serious pressure. As he has done time and again in his career, the English skipper played the first ball with utmost confidence before carrying it through the rest of the day. Root ended the day unbeaten on 48, with the hosts still 245 runs short of India’s first innings total. England pacer James Anderson compared Root to a superhuman, at the end of the day’s play.
“Every time he goes out there he is just class. and today he looked class from ball one. When you see your captain go out and play like that on a hat-trick ball, it does seem to have a really calming effect on the dressing room, so I’m sure there’s much more to come from him,” Anderson said in the post-day press conference.
Anderson also praised the Yorkshire man for his efforts over the last year, where the skipper has scored 1112 runs for the Three Lions in the longest format. Alongside that, on Friday, the 30-year-old went past England legend Graham Gooch's tally of Test runs, en route to his 48.
“Joe’s been amazing through his career and this last 12 months in particular. With everything that we’ve been through with the pandemic and the pressures on this team, to be able to captain the side and perform the way he has been is nothing short of superhuman.”
The 39-year-old also insisted that the hosts are in a decent position and are just one-two partnerships away from being level with India in the second Test.
"We are in a decent position. I know we still have a lot of hard work to do but pretty pleased with the way we are."