James Anderson calls rebranding of Anderson-Tendulkar trophy ‘huge honour’

LONDON: Former pacer James Anderson on Monday, said he ‘could not be more proud’ over being permanently linked with the forthcoming Tests between England and India as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named it after him and Sachin Tendulkar.

Anderson, during an interview with an international cricket news website, shared that he still could not believe that the trophy was named after him, alongside India’s batting great Tendulkar, whom he looked up to while growing up.

"It's a huge honour. I still can't quite believe it. Sachin is someone I looked up to when I was growing up, though I don't want to do him a disservice with his age,” Anderson said.

"I remember watching him, an absolute legend of the game, and I played against him a lot as well. So to have this trophy is a huge honour for me, and I couldn't be more proud,” he added.

Anderson’s Test career spanned over 21 years during which he played 188 matches and picked up 704 wickets – the most by a pacer in the format.

The right-arm pacer played 39 Tests against India and picked up 149 wickets – his most against a single cricket nation.

"Time flies," Anderson added. "I'm playing with guys at Lancashire at the moment, and I had 50 Test wickets before they were born. It's a bit strange how things work out."

"There are some great memories, I always loved playing against India," James Anderson said.

"I'd say, after the Ashes, it was the series that England look forward to the most. I obviously had some tough times in India, it's a really hard place to go, but we won there which was a really special moment, and some of the battles we had in England were great. They had some amazing players."