Former England spinner Monty Panesar has praised James Anderson, who recently became the first pacer in the history of Test cricket to scalp 600 wickets, as he termed the 38-year-old as the 'best fast bowler ever'.
"James Anderson has been brilliant. He has stayed injury-free and has always been hungry to take wickets. With this attitude he is the best fast bowler ever now," Panesar said during SportsTiger's show Cricket Talks.
"England team would be thinking now how long they can keep him playing. He has a brilliant record in English conditions and he is averaging around just 21since the age of 36," he added.
Anderson achieved the feat during the three-match Test series against Pakistan which England won by 1-0.
Panesar also shared his thoughts on the Pakistan team saying that "This Pakistan team is still too young to know how to win test matches. They get themselves into winning positions and don't know how to hold onto those."
However, Panesar commended the resilience showed by the Pakist squad and the way they saved the third Test.
In the third Test, England had racked up 583 runs in their first innings before bundling out Pakistan on just 273 runs. The hosts then enforced follow-on but Pakistan's cautious batting in the second innings and interruption caused by the rain denied England the victory in the match.
"Pakistan has an attitude which shows that they want to become the number one Test team in the world. This new team under Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, and Mushtaq Ahmed went out there and showed pride in their approach in the third test which you wouldn't have seen with the old Pakistan squad," Panesar said.
In the series against India in January 2021, Panesar feels England will have to make tough decisions regarding whom to drop from the team once Ben Stokes returns.
"England likes to play all-rounder in that position and I can see both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes playing. Probably, it will be James Anderson or Stuart Broad who might be dropped considering the conditions," he said.
Commenting on Joe Root's captaincy, Panesar said: "Joe Root is a good captain but his greatness will only be decided when England travels to Australia for the Ashes. If they win 'The Ashes' then one would say he is a great captain but if they don't win I wouldn't put him in the category of great captains."
( With inputs from ANI )
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