London: England pacer James Anderson is well set to continue his ‘fiercely competitive’ rivalry with Indian skipper Virat Kohli when England face India in the second Test at the Lord’s here, starting Thursday.
Anderson and Kohli are the top-ranked bowler and batsmen respectively in Test cricket, and are set to again go toe-to-toe.
While Anderson stole bragging rights in the first of the five-match series as England claimed victory by 31 runs in Birmingham, it was Kohli who shone individually, making 149 and 51 to be the standout batsman of the match.
“There’s a fiercely competitive rivalry between myself and Virat — but also enormous mutual respect,” Anderson wrote for The Sun newspaper. “… I certainly loved the battle with him at Edgbaston. I felt good bowling to Virat and my plans worked well. I might have dismissed him a few times with some plays and misses plus a dropped catch.
“I’ve been told only 17 of his 149 runs in the first innings came off my bowling. But the fact is, I didn’t get him out and he scored a century and a half century. So I’m not getting carried away.
“In fact, it makes me even more determined to be on top form at Lord’s. I’ll look at some videos to see if I can do anything different,” he added.
Anderson has dismissed Kohli five times in 13 Tests – a figure only Australia’s Nathan Lyon can match – but the right-hander appears a different proposition in England this time around from the man who struggled to make an impression when India toured four years ago. In fact, his first-innings 149 was more than his entire runs tally (134 at 13.40) in 2014.
I gave Kohli a couple of freebies on his legs that he clipped for four and said something like- you are giving me freebies, which is unlikely of you. It was teasing, leg-pulling. All in good spirit
James Anderson