James Anderson hits out at Virat Kohli, claims home pitches are hiding his flaws
India’s Test captain Virat Kohli may have scored more than 600 runs at an average in excess of 100 in the ongoing India-England Test series but fast bowler James Anderson believes that pitches in India hide Virat Kohli’s flaws. He also belittled the performance of India’s spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who have taken 39 wickets between them in the series.
Extra Cover: Michael Vaughan says Virat Kohli is taking Test cricket in India to another level
Kohli is the leading run-scorer in international cricket across all formats and has had a sublime year in which he has scored runs everywhere in every format. But England’s all-time leading wicket-taker remains unconvinced about his prowess and claimed that batting in India does not exploit the “technical deficiences” that the Indian captain has.
Anderson, who troubled Kohli during India’s 2014 tour of England where Kohli averaged just 13.40 and got out to the right-arm fast bowler four times, believes Kohli’s impatience outside the off stump which got him into trouble is taken “out of the equation” in India.
“I’m not sure he’s changed,” Anderson said. “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 take 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.
"When that's not there, he's very much suited to playing in these conditions. He's a very good player of spin and if you're not bang on the money and don't take your chances, he'll punish you. We tried to stay patient against him, but he just waits and waits and waits. He just played really well."
Surprising comments about India’s spinners
These comments from England’s leading fast bowler are certainly surprising when you consider that Kohli is averaging nearly 90 in 2016 and has scored his career-best Test score in the ongoing Test in Mumbai and added more runs against spin than all but one England batsman, Joe Root, has managed in the entire series.
Before the series, Kohli’s average against England was a mere 20.12 and had just a solitary fifty against his name but he has rewritten all that in the ongoing series.
And what was even more surprising was Anderson’s take on the performance of India’s spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja who have 39 wickets between them in the series, about whom, he remarked: “I'm not sure they're too difficult to handle.”
Follow your cricket stars and what they are upto in the latest cricket news and analysis at Sportskeeda Cricket