“He has to also take wickets in India” - When Virat Kohli’s childhood coach lashed out at England legend
Back in 2016, Team India's ace batter Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma lashed out at James Anderson's comments, with the coach calling Anderson's comments "childish". This happened after Virat Kohli scored a scintillating double hundred against England in the fourth Test of the series which was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Virat Kohli won the Player of the Match award for scoring 235 runs in the Test at Wankhede, which also happened to be his highest Test score at the time. James Anderson, who spoke to the media after the game, stated that the pitch had taken his flaws away. He said:
"I'm not sure he's changed, I just think any technical deficiencies he's got aren't in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. We had success against him in England but the pace of the pitches over here just takes any flaws he has out of the equation. There's not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement. Pitches like this suit him down to the ground."
Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, took note of the comments and retorted:
"This is a childish statement from Anderson. What has he done in the matches that he has played? He is also not getting wickets in India. He may be a good pacer but he has to also take wickets in India. Taking wickets in England can’t be a parameter to term someone great” Sharma had to say to PTI Bhasha in an interaction.
Kohli scored 15 runs off 29 in the last match of the tour at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, with Karun Nair's 303* and Ravindra Jadeja's 7/59 ensuring that India had won the match by an innings and 75 runs and the series 4-0.
Kohli also won the Player of the Series award, with the then-Team India skipper scoring 655 runs across five matches.
Virat Kohli went on to bury his ghosts from 2014 in the ENG vs IND 2018 Test series
Virat Kohli had an abysmal tour of England back in 2014, with the batter only being able to manage 134 runs across the 10 innings he played. When he went to tour the nation again in 2018, Kohli ended up as one of India's finest batter on the tour, scoring two hundreds- 149 at Edgbaston and 103 at Trent Bridge.
The most anticipated battle between Kohli and Anderson was watched by many during the tour, with Kohli scoring 114 runs against him across the five matches that were played. The then-Team India skipper was India's Player of the Series for his contribution of 593 runs.