What does the India Test series mean for James Anderson

James Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in the history of Test cricket, celebrated his 39th birthday on Friday. With 617 wickets to his name, the England legend has perhaps accomplished more than he set out to do. Yet, despite all his achievements, two big battles still remain in his distinguished career.

In a couple of days' time, Anderson will be locked in what should be his last battle against one of his favourite opponent's, India, before a final hurrah against the old enemy, Australia, later in the year.

For England cricketers, the Ashes is the ultimate battle and glory, but the numbers are proof of how Anderson reserves his best for his contests against India. Champions tend to enjoy pitting their skills against the best, so doing well against the Indian batsmen has been important for every bowler's ego in Anderson's era.

When he started playing in the early 2000s, India had the most formidable batting line-up – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. For the top bowlers, they were the top prize. So, when Anderson got the chance against them he made his mark in his very first Test versus India, in March 2006, at Wankhede, with a match-haul of six wickets where he picked up Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag.

Since then, the England pace ace has been on a roll. In 30 Tests against the Indians, he has 118 wickets, the most against any team he has competed against, from 1072 overs. Against Australia, he has 104 wickets from 1175.1 overs.

Once Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag retired, Anderson's targets seamlessly changed to Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, and enjoyed the same rate of success.

Anderson is not just a wicket-taking machine; he is an artist. Said artistry is most evident in his first spell with the new ball before he makes subtle changes to attack with the old ball. When in full flow, Anderson is a great sight.

England lost that series played over Chennai and Ahmedabad 3-1, but Anderson was not easily tamed. In the first Test at Chepauk, he carved open the batting line-up on the final day with figures of 11-4-17-3 to help England pull off their only win. The first over he bowled on that Day 5 is regarded as one of the greatest exhibitions of reverse swing in modern-day Test cricket.

On a fifth-day pitch, when it got even slower, Chennai had the rare sight of a pacer sending the stumps cartwheeling. With his second ball, he uprooted opener Shubman Gill's off-stump, his fourth saw Rahane narrowly survive a leg-before appeal and with his fifth, he dislodged the India vice-captain's off-stump. All three were reverse swinging balls, delivered to perfection. Anderson followed that up with the wicket of Rishabh Pant as well.

Anderson's form in his last series at home, versus New Zealand, was indifferent. But the Indian batsmen know better. Against India, he forever poses a threat and Kohli & Co will remember how well he bowled in India earlier this year.

At the new Motera, Anderson's role was reduced after India went for spin-friendly pitches, although the pacer gave a decent account of himself. In the first innings of the fourth Test, he returned respectable figures of 25-14-44-3. For his age and playing conditions, these were fantastic spells. But his best was seen during the 2011 and 2014 series at home – a period in which he was in peak form.

During those two series, Anderson put on display his ability to bounce back immediately from below-par performances. He always analyses what isn't working and is renowned to make instant adjustments. This is what makes him a dangerous customer because one can never write him off after a bad day.

In the 2011 series, after his first innings returns of 23.5-6-87-2 in the opening Test at Lord's – a pedestrian show by his standards – he surprised the Indian batsmen on the final day to claim a five-wicket haul. Starting the final day at 80 for one, India fancied their chances of thwarting England's bid for victory. But Anderson claimed the wickets of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Suresh Raina to make a draw into a win.

This is how he explained the dramatic turnaround. "In the first innings at Lord's, I did not bowl well; bowled a bit wide although I bowled pretty good lengths. I knew if I could hold my length and get my line back in the second innings, I could cause some damage," said Anderson. "The fact that I could make that adjustment in the space of a couple of days really pleased me and showed me I'm in control of what I am doing."

Similar adjustments were made in the 2014 series. After India beat England at Lord's to take a 1-0 lead, Anderson went back to the drawing board ahead of the third Test in Southampton. He proved to be the difference in the remainder of the series, won 3-1 by England, with Anderson finishing with 25 wickets and the Man of the Series award as well.

After the low of Test series against New Zealand this year, Anderson has sounded a warning to his opponents with career-best figures of 7-19 for his county side, Lancashire, against Kent. Those wickets also helped him cross the 1000-wicket landmark in first-class cricket. Now, another three Test wickets will take him past Anil Kumble and into third of the all-time list, with only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) above him.

The Big Battle

To get there, he will once again target Kohli, who he has dismissed five times in 36 innings. But neither the best fast bowler or the world's premier batsman can claim bragging rights in that contest yet. Anderson had the measure of Kohli in the 2014 home series, removing him four times and making him average 13.4 with the bat. In that series, Kohli didn't manage a fifty in 10 innings.

The India star made a fighting comeback in the following tour. After dominating at home in 2016-17, Kohli blunted Anderson with a disciplined approach to prove himself in English conditions in 2018. He aggregated 593 runs, but Anderson again took 25 wickets to play a big part in India's 1-4 rout.

This time around, Anderson will be happy that the series begins at Trent Bridge. Nottingham is his favorite hunting ground with 64 wickets in 10 Tests, having taken his most five wicket-hauls (seven) and two of his three 10-wicket hauls there, average 19.63 at a strike rate of 42.56, which are much better than his overall career numbers of 26.67 and 56.39. His pace may have dropped a bit, but Kohli and his men will know that they can't let their guards drop against the ageless warrior.