Ravindra Jadeja hails James Anderson as the 'GOAT' pacer

Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has hailed the just retired England pacer James Anderson as the greatest fast bowler of all time on his latest Instagram story. Anderson played his final Test match on Friday, July 12, 2024 against the West Indies at Lord's which the hosts won by an innings and 114 runs.

In 2014, Team India had toured England for a five-match Test series followed by five ODIs and a T20I. On Day 2 of the first Test match which happened at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, both Anderson and Jadeja were involved in an aggressive verbal spat.

However, exactly a decade later, it seems like Jadeja has put aside his differences with Anderson as the former posted a story about the speedster with 'GOAT' and applause emojis.

Here's the story:

Screengrab of Ravindra Jadeja's Instagram story about James Anderson

It is evident that the all-rounder had recently announced his retirement from the T20Is after winning the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup with the Men in Blue last month.

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James Anderson retires as one of the greats of the game

In a career spanning 21 years, with 704 wickets in 188 Test matches, James Anderson retired as one of the most successful bowlers of all-time. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) have more Test wickets than the Englishman.

Anderson made his Test debut way back in May 2003 against Zimbabwe at Lord's as a 20-year-old. Since then, there has been no looking back for him as he ended his career as the highest wicket-taker among pacers.

In his final game, the 41-year-old picked four wickets (one in the first innings, three in the second innings) against the West Indies side. His 188 Test appearances are the second-highest of all-time only behind Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 200 Tests.