Vizag Test: England pacer James Anderson's 'quick' comeback, a surprise

Anderson is congratulated by teammates after Rahane's wicket

Visakhapatnam: James Anderson, who replaced Chris Woakes in the second Test, started off with a five-over spell in the morning, during which he removed an in-form Murali Vijay with a well-directed shorter one, which the opening bat gloved to slip, sent down a total of 16 overs on the day, something that would have pleased skipper Alastair Cook.

The England captain had on Wednesday been unsure of fielding his otherwise premier fast bowler so soon after his recovery. "Jimmy has come over and done really well in the nets and he's confident as he can be in terms of his skills and where he's at but he hasn't got miles in his legs. The last time he played in a game was in August," he had said.

But play Anderson he did and despite the first day pitch having nothing in it for the quicks, the pacer, who was more confident about his readiness than his skipper, played his part well enough.

"I always thought I would get out there (in the middle) for some part of it (the tour), but I think it was a surprise to a lot of people that I got out here early as I did," said Anderson.

"The rehab has gone really well. When I came back to bowling, it progressed really quickly. I thought it would take some time to build up to a good pace but it took me less time to do that," he added.