"He's someone you want to play for" - James Anderson praises Ben Stokes' leadership in ENG vs PAK 1st Test

Team England talisman James Anderson heaped praise on captain Ben Stokes after their 74-run victory over Pakistan in the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, December 5.

Coming into Day 5, Pakistan were 262 runs away from a 342-run pursuit on a flat and docile pitch.

Pakistan were 257 for 5 at the end of tea, with Azhar Ali (40) and Agha Salman (30) stitching together a 59-run stand to put the hosts in a commanding situation/ They need only 86 runs required in the final session of the game.

Anderson (4/36) and Ollie Robinson (4/50) then shared four wickets between them after tea to pull off a spectacular win for the tourists as Pakistan were bowled out for 268 in 96.3 overs.

Stokes' decision to declare England's second innings at 264 for 7, in hindsight, turned out to be a decisive factor in their first Test win in Pakistan after 17 years. He persisted with his new-ball bowlers and gave them as many overs to do the damage.

While expressing what it means to play under Stokes' captaincy, the 40-year-old Anderson told Sky Sports:

"He's someone you want to play for, he is incredible. Gives you so much confidence going out there and the way he knows just what he wants to do. He thinks about it a lot - the field he sets - and the way he just sort of tells you what to do basically. He is great for us."

He added:

"You know we chat a lot about things. It's exciting trying just different things as well, exciting things and different fields. Thinking outside the box which you got to do on pitches like this."

"You have to recover well and come back in three days" - James Anderson

Both England and Pakistan have a gap of three days to recharge ahead of the second Test, which will take place between December 9 and 13 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Speaking about how he was drained in the run-fest game at Rawalpindi, Anderson said:

"Yeah it was nice to have a win but I don't think tomorrow will feel great for me (chuckles). It was a long five days, a quick turnaround. But that's the nature of Test cricket.

The England pacer spoke about the mindset of playing back-to-back games in a bilateral Test series and added:

"You know we know when you are coming into the series you've got back-to-back games. You have got to recover well and then come back in three days.

Anderson became the third-highest wicket-taker at the international level after claiming collective figures of 5/88 in the first Test.

With 959 wickets in 389 matches across all formats, Anderson surpassed former India spin bowler Anil Kumble's tally of 956 dismissals in international cricket. He is only behind Australia's late Shane Warne (1001) and legendary Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan (1347).