'Zaheer Khan is better than James Anderson': India star sparks debate with audacious remark

Even though Anderson continues to be a vital part of England's Test team, a veteran India star has raised a debatable question on the 40-year-old's career.

England superstar James Anderson has aged like fine wine. It was earlier this year when he had pipped India's Ravichandran Ashwin to become the new No.1 ranked bowler in ICC Men's Test Rankings for the sixth time in his career. But on gaining the title as the premier bowler on the Test rankings at the age of 40 and 6 months, Anderson also became the fifth oldest bowler to gain the top spot. Even has world cricket has most to the faster-paced T20 style or more shorter formats, Anderson has remained among the true ambassadors of the traditional format as he stands with 686 wickets in his illustrious career, which remains the third most by a player in Test history.

India star compared Zaheer Khan with James Anderson

Even though Anderson continues to be a vital part of England's Test team as he chases to become the first ever pacer with 700-plus wickets, a veteran India star has raised a debatable question on the 40-year-old's career. Speaking to YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on 'The Ranveer Show', Ishant Sharma felt that Anderson's career wouldn't have been the same had he been from India before he made an audacious statement comparing the England legend with retired India star Zaheer Khan.

When asked whether he has ever had a conversation with Anderson on his bowling and ageing, Ishant explained that Anderson has trained and bowls in a very different condition to that of an Indian bowler.

"Jimmy Anderson’s bowling style and method is quite different. He plays in different conditions in England. May be if he played in India...," Ishant then stopped. The anchor smiled and said, "...maybe he wouldn't have found that kind of success."

Ishant nodded and replied saying: "Zak. He is better than Jimmy Anderson."

Zaheer last played for India in 2014. During his 14-year-long Test career, he picked 311 wickets for India, which was the highest by an Indian fast bowler in the format until Ishant matched it in his last appearance for India.

Speaking on the fellow veteran fast bowler, Ishant clarified the incident from Wellington Test in 2014 where Ishant was seen of having a heated conversation with Zaheer.

“I had told that to myself. To this day, people don’t understand to whom I said that. I have never abused anyone who has dropped a catch. How can say that to Zak? He is literally like guru for me. I have never even thought about saying anything like that. It was just frustration because Brendon McCullum was scoring a lot of runs. There were only three fast bowlers - me, Zak and [Mohammed] Shami. After almost every four overs, we had to bowl again and the wicket was very flat. I was just removing the frustration on myself," he said.