James Anderson maybe 36 years old, but with the kind of bowling spells he is producing in this series, he has proved that age is just a number. Anderson took 5/20 to help England bowl India out for only 107 on the second day of the second Test at Lord’s on Friday.
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Before the start of the five-match Test series between India and England, the contest between Indian skipper, Kohli and Anderson was the talk to the town. Fans were looking forward to a battle between a highly improved Virat Kohli from the series in 2014 against Anderson, who had made Kohli his bunny last time around in England.
Virat Kohli has looked a lot more comfortable to the England seamers this time around and hasn’t been dismissed by Anderson so far. On day 2 of the second Test, Kohli faced 30 balls from Anderson and scored 13 runs, while leaving almost everything that was outside the off stump.
After England dismissed India for 107, James Anderson spoke to the media where he said that he loves to test himself against the best players in the world and Virat Kohli is one of them.
“I was thinking, ‘why can’t he edge them like everyone else?’ “I’ve really enjoyed the contest between myself and him. He’s No.1 in the world for a reason,” Anderson said at the end of second day’s play.
“For me, I love playing against the best players in the world, testing yourself and seeing whether you can get the better of them. It’s a really thrilling thing to be a part of, and unfortunately, I’ve not got the better of him yet. But I’ll continue to try my hardest throughout the rest of the series,” he said.
Anderson also stated that India has some quality batsmen in the line-up but Kohli is the most important given he is the leader and the best player amongst them.
“Kohli is important because he is captain, a leader and he is their best player – No. 1 in the world. But 90 per cent of their top seven have scored runs against us in the past so we can’t look just as Kohli as a big wicket,” the 36-year-old added.
James Anderson also said that the conditions were very friendly for the bowlers and with the kind of bowling they were doing, they would have bowled out any team in the world.
