LONDON: Virat Kohli has said that his own form in the England Tests is less important than how India do, but James Anderson isn’t buying it, reported ICC.
Prior to the limited-overs series in England – India won the Twenty20 Internationals 2-1, while England won the one-day internationals by the same margin – Kohli addressed a media conference, saying, “It doesn’t matter whether I get runs or don’t get runs, what I want is the team to play well and the team to win.”
Anderson, who was given time off from his county cricket assignments to get himself fit for the five-Test series against India, expressed incredulity when asked about Kohli’s statement.
“It doesn’t matter if he gets runs or not? I think he is telling lies there,” Anderson said light-heartedly when speaking to Press Trust of India.
Kohli had a horror Test series in England in 2014, the only time he has played the long format in the country, aggregating 134 runs in five Tests as India lost 3-1. Anderson had his number four times in that series.
“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,” said Anderson.
One of the top batters in the world, the India captain had expressed a desire to play for Surrey in June to prepare for the upcoming Test series, suggesting an intention to improve his numbers in England.
“Today, 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,” said Anderson, the all-time highest wicket-taker for England in Tests.
“I am sure he is practising 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.”
The deal with Surrey didn’t work out because of an injury, but Kohli has shown good form since India reached England. He had scores of 20*, 47 and 43 in the T20Is and 75, 45 and 71 in the ODIs.
Commenting on Kohli’s white-ball form, Anderson said, “I think it is a really difficult one to answer because you would think that the red ball swings more or does more off the seam. But it doesn’t work like that. 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 the red ball, you might create more chances. Overall it is hard to say.”
