IND vs ENG 2021: “Getting Virat Kohli out that early was quite unusual” - James Anderson
England’s legendary pacer James Anderson has described the feeling of getting Indian captain Virat Kohli out for a golden duck as an 'unusual' one.
Anderson won the first battle between him and Kohli when he got the Indian skipper to nick one behind the stumps on Day 2 of the Nottingham Test. The ball was slightly outside the off-stump but an unsure Kohli could not resist the temptation of flirting with it.
Reflecting on the massive dismissal at the end of the second day’s play, Anderson pointed out that he has troubled Kohli in that corridor of uncertainty before. He elaborated:
“I feel like I’ve challenged Virat in that area before. He either played or missed or left it. He’s always been good enough to sort of get through and today it was just one of those days where he nicked it. Getting Kohli out that early was quite unusual.”
With the wicket of Kohli, Anderson equalled Indian great Anil Kumble’s record of 619 Test scalps. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) have taken more Test wickets than the veteran England pacer.
Before Kohli, Anderson also sent back Cheteshwar Pujara with a brute of a delivery. His twin strikes brought England back in the game after India’s openers had added 97 runs.
It was just an outpouring of emotions: James Anderson on celebrations after Kohli’s dismissal
Anderson did not hide his joy after dismissing Kohli first-ball on Day 2 of the Nottingham Test. His pumped-up celebrations were similar to a bowler reacting after getting his first Test wicket. Asked about the reason for the same, the 39-year-old explained:
“He’s such a big wicket. To bowl the ball exactly where I wanted it to and for him to nick it as well. It was just an outpouring of emotions to get the team back into the game. Getting their best player out is something that doesn’t happen all that often.”
“To be honest it’s not really something that we thought about too much, particularly to him. What we try to do as a group is trying to challenge that fourth stump area, the defence as much as possible. Obviously to get a couple of quick ones like that is really important, especially with Virat being such an influential player for them. Always good to get him early,” Anderson concluded.
Responding to England’s first-innings total of 183, India were 125 for 4 after a rain-shortened Day 2 of the first Test. KL Rahul (57 not out) and Rishabh Pant (7 not out) will resume their innings on Day 3.