"I don’t want to drag it out and people are thinking: ‘Can you just do one'"- James Anderson on his retirement plans amidst IND vs ENG 3rd Test
Veteran England pacer James Anderson is still going strong at the ripe old age of 41, leading the visitors' bowling attack in the ongoing third Test against India in Rajkot.
Anderson has never been far away from a debate regarding his retirement from the game, especially over the past couple of years. While the legendary pacer hasn't thought about when he would hang up his boots, he knows he wants to end with a flourish.
Speaking to the Telegraph (via TalkSPORT), here's what James Anderson had to say about his retirement plans:
"I would like to be able to go out on a nice note. I don’t want to drag it out and people are thinking: ‘Can you just do one.’ Morgs [Eoin Morgan] last year woke up and just knew it was time to call it a day. I am just hoping that is the case."
Anderson has already picked up his 696th Test wicket in the form of Kuldeep Yadav early on Day 2. He is only behind legendary bowlers Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800) on the list of the highest wicket-takers in the history of Tests.
James Anderson 'privileged' to be in the position he is
James Anderson has set pretty high fitness standards for himself and is grateful that he is still in a position where he can decide when he wants to bid adieu from the game. On this, he stated, via the aforementioned source:
“I feel privileged to have got in a position where I can make a decision because, as a bowler, it is usually taken out of your hands with injury or selection. It will be nice to go out on my own terms, but when that will be, you just have to wait and see."
England have got off to the perfect start to Day 2 as they have already sent back both the overnight batters Ravindra Jadeja (112) and Kuldeep Yadav (4). The hosts need Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin to stick around and build a solid partnership to take them past 400.