James Anderson takes a dig at Virat Kohli ahead of England Test series

Just before the start of the five-match Test series between Indian and England, the verbal volleys have already begun with James Anderson taking a dig at Virat Kohli.

Anderson told the reporters that Kohli was lying if he said that it does not matter the runs he scores in England. “It doesn’t matter if he gets runs or not? I think he is telling lies there.

“For India to win here, of course it matters. Virat will be desperate to score runs for his team, as you would expect from the captain and one of the best players in the world.

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“Cricketers learn from not only watching match footage but also from past experiences. So I would expect a batsman of Kohli’s quality to have learnt from that last series here (in 2014),” Anderson said.

At the question of Kohli being his bunny, Anderson said that it is not only him but the other English bowlers against whom Kohli will also face a threat.

“I am sure he (Kohli) is practicing hard at certain aspects of his game and that will make the battle between him and not just myself, but him and the rest of our bowlers, a really exciting one.

“A batsman like Virat plays the ball so late that they have got so much time and they make you feel slow as a bowler. It is hard with white or red ball. (But) sometimes when batsmen are trying to be more attacking in white ball cricket than red ball, you might create more chances. Overall it is hard to say,” the seamer reckoned.

Virat Kohli managed only 134 runs in five matches the last time he toured England. Now in his prime, he would certainly want to improve on his record.