India vs England: James Anderson's longevity highlighted by this mindboggling fact

England recalled James Anderson into the playing XI for the second Test against India in Visakhapatnam. He and Shoaib Bashir are the only changes from the first Test with Mark Wood and Jack Leach sitting out.

41-year-old Anderson will be making his 184th appearance in Test cricket when he takes the field as the solitary seamer in a largely inexperienced and young bowling attack.

Anderson’s longevity and fitness can be ascertained by the fact that when he made his Test debut, against Zimbabwe in May 2003, Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed were yet to be born!

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Now, they all will be looking to bring India down and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

The gulf in experience level is worth a look as well. Anderson with 183 Test caps has played more than Bashir (to make his debut in Visakhapatnam), Ahmed (two Tests) and Tom Hartley (one Test) combined. Moreover, Anderson has played more Tests in India (13) than the trio have in their careers (3).

Anderson has taken 34 wickets in 13 Tests in India, averaging 29.32. He is 10 shy of 700 Test wickets and England skipper Ben Stokes hailed the old warhorse.

“Bringing Jimmy’s experience, the class that he has, is great and I think it also goes under the radar how good his record in India is,” said Stokes on Anderson.

“Considering what Jimmy is going for – ‘the swing king’ and all that – it just proves how good a bowler he is. He has different skill sets that I will be able to exploit in Indian conditions.

“It’s not just picking Jimmy for the new ball, it’s the other stuff he possesses as well. It’s great that Jimmy is doing good things for the old boys out there. It’s huge credit and lots of people should look up to Jimmy considering he is where he is at 41.”