"James Anderson is a world-class bowler" - Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has heaped praise on veteran England pacer James Anderson, labeling him a world-class bowler.

Kohli has lost his wicket to Anderson five times in Test matches. However, the 38-year-old fast bowler is yet to dismiss him in this series.

In a virtual interaction with reporters, Virat Kohli spoke at length about his battle with James Anderson ahead of the final India-England Test in Ahmedabad.

There was a time when many fans considered Virat to be James Anderson's bunny in red-ball cricket. However, Anderson could not dismiss Kohli even once in the 2016 and 2018 series between England and India.

The same has been the trend in the current series. When asked how he had prepared for James Anderson in the last few Tests against England, Kohli replied:

"I think James Anderson is a world-class bowler. I probably would have thought way too much into how to handle him in England in 2014. I think from then onwards, I would have treated every bowler as someone who's running with the ball, and I just need to play the ball, not the bowler."

James Anderson to Virat Kohli in TestsTill 2015 42 runs from 131 balls 5 wicketsFrom 2016 186 runs from 402 balls 0 wickets#EngvsInd

— ESPNcricinfo stats (@ESPNcric_stats) February 9, 2021

James Anderson picked up Virat Kohli's wicket for the first time at Eden Gardens in Kolkata during England's tour of India in 2012.

Two years later, India visited England, where Anderson troubled Kohli a lot. The English pacer got the better of the Indian batsman four times in the five-Test series. Kohli ended that series without a half-century.

I've seen batters who are dismissed by other bowlers way too much: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has dominated James Anderson in the last six years

While Anderson has not sent Virat Kohli back to the pavilion since 2014, the 32-year-old noted how Anderson came close to picking up his wicket in the recent Tests. However, the fast bowler was let down by the English fielders.

Kohli also mentioned that many other batsmen had lost their wickets to a particular bowler more than five times.

"Having said that, he's gotten quite close to dismissing me a few times since then as well. In the last tour of England, a couple of catches were dropped. Even in the last game, a catch was dropped, so I could have been out a couple of more times to him. But that doesn't make anyone a bunny. Again, these are conversations that are quite one-sided. I've seen batters who are dismissed by other bowlers way too much. But it just becomes a conversation people have when they plot me and Jimmy against each other. We obviously have a lot of respect for each other's skillsets," Virat Kohli added.

Kohli concluded by saying even though Anderson had not dismissed him in the last few years, it did not make him any less of a potent bowler.

If Pope had taken that catch, then Anderson could’ve dismissed Virat Kohli after 2389 days .AND THE WAIT CONTINUES FOR ANDERSON#INDvENG

— K I R A N 🇮🇳 (@Kiran_reddy_k) February 24, 2021