Former England legend and speedster, James Anderson while speaking with TalkSport podcast, revealed about his greatest battles on the cricket ground. He opened up about the difficulty he faced while playing against former India captain Virat Kohli and his mindset. He also revealed that as compared Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, he faced much difficultuy while playing against Kohli. Kohli retired from Test cricket earlier in the previous month.
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“I think I had some success early against Kohli the first time he came to England. I think it was 2014 You know, I’ve really exploited He had a weakness outside of stump really exploited that and then The next time I played against him, he’d obviously gone away and worked on that and he was like bowling at a different player.” James Anderson said.
“He’d really taken his game to a different level Made it very difficult for for not just me but for for the bowlers in general And I didn’t I think I got him out Maybe four or five times the first series and then didn’t get him out in the next series. I played against him. So it was You know against Sachin for example, I I didn’t feel like it was that sort of shift in Dominance, I think with Kohli.” Anderson added.
James Anderson said "Virat Kohli is the toughest batter I have bowled to in the Fab 4. [TalkSport podcast] pic.twitter.com/LNoLOlm0pr
— khabresh (@khab_resh) June 16, 2025
Virat Kohli vs James Anderson in Tests
According to Cricmetric, Virat Kohli has scored 305 runs off 710 balls against James Anderson in Test matches. Anderson has dismissed Kohli 7 times, indicating a closely contested rivalry. Kohli maintains an average of 43.6 and a strike rate of 43.0 against Anderson, highlighting a cautious and watchful approach, given the high number of dot balls (560). With 39 boundaries and no sixes, it’s clear Kohli prefers playing along the ground in these encounters. Their head-to-head remains one of the most fascinating matchups in modern Test cricket.
