James Anderson singles out Hashim Amla and Ricky Ponting as difficult batsmen

It is often said that, even for those best in the business, there is someone who fears them, and this is especially true in the game of cricket. There is always that one bowler who fears batsmen, and similarly, that one batsman who fears bowlers.

England fast bowler  James Anderson, in his tete-a-tete with former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne at the IPL discussion revealed that South Africa`s veteran batsman Hashim Amla and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting were the two batsmen he found the toughest to bowl to.

Warne, on the other hand, chose a long list of batsmen who gave him shivers. The list included Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis, Graham Gooch, Kevin Pietersen, and Ricky Ponting  Anderson picked Ponting and Amla.

“I`d put (Ricky) Ponting right up there, especially in Australian conditions,” The 34-year-old said that the former Australian captain always made it difficult for him to settle down as a bowler. That was mainly because Ponting could easily hit any length.

“Now, Hashim Amla is right up there (too) – he`s very difficult to bowl at, especially in Test cricket.”

Anderson is England`s all-time leading Test wicket-taker. He has 467 wickets under his belt at an average of 28.50.

Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, was one of the most successful ODI batsmen and captain. There were very few players who could have pulled the ball like Ponting did. Standing on his toes, he got on top of the ball and with a swivel, blasted it towards the boundary. Though many didn’t like his ‘into-the-face’ captaincy, few would argue that he was, at that time, one of the most complete batsmen.

The talk shows during the Indian Premier League reveal many such interesting conversations between former cricketers and unknown facts about the history of the world’s most followed game.