England vs India, 2nd Test: "Cricket Can Be Very, Very Cruel", James Anderson Backs Haseeb Hameed

Haseeb Hameed might have departed for a golden duck in the first innings of the second Test against India, but pacer James Anderson is "sure" the batsman will get another chance to showcase his skills in the series. Hameed last played for England in 2016 before he made his short appearance in the second Test on Friday. Mohammed Siraj removed the English batsman off the first ball he faced upon his return to international cricket. "It's cruel sometimes, isn't it. He's worked incredibly hard, done everything right. He's got a stack-load of runs the last couple of years and looked unbelievable in the nets... cricket can be very, very cruel and I do feel for him," ESPNcricinfo quoted Anderson as saying.

"But he's got another chance in this game, and I'm sure he'll get another chance throughout the series to show what he can do," he added.

Skipper Root Joe Root on Friday surpassed former cricketer Graham Gooch to become England's second-highest run-scorer in the longest format of the game.

Anderson termed Root a "superhuman" and hailed the English skipper for achieving the "amazing" feat.

"Absolutely, Joe has been amazing. Throughout his career, and in this last 12 months in particular with everything that we've been through with the pandemic and pressure on this team, to be able to captain the side, and perform the way he has is nothing more than superhuman," said Anderson at the end of day's play.

"I couldn't speak highly enough of him, and every time he goes out, he just shows the class and today was exactly that. It was just his class from ball one. He played quite comfortably," he added.

Root now has 8,935 runs under his belt and is only behind former England skipper Alastair Cook, who has scored 12,472 runs in Tests.

Topics mentioned in this article

England Cricket Team India Cricket Team James Anderson Haseeb Hameed Mohammed Siraj England vs India, 2021 England vs India, 2nd Test Cricket