Former England fast bowler James Anderson recently spoke about his experience bowling to two of India’s cricket legends – Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history, dismissed Tendulkar nine times and Kohli seven times during his career. When asked who was the tougher opponent, Anderson chose Kohli over Tendulkar. He explained that although he had the upper hand when they first faced off in 2014, Kohli eventually improved and performed well against him.
“I had some success early against Kohli, the first time he came to England in 2014. I really exploited his weakness of outside off-stump, and then the next time I played against him – he had obviously gone back and worked on that – he was totally a different player. He really had taken his game to a different level, made it very difficult for not just me but for bowlers in general. I got him out 4-5 times in the first series and then didn’t get him out in the next I played against him,” Anderson said on the talkSport podcast.
Anderson also mentioned the several heated exchanges he had with Kohli on the field, including a notable one in 2021. He highlighted the differences in personality between Kohli and Tendulkar, suggesting that these traits influenced the nature of his rivalries with each player.
“I definitely had more verbal battles with Virat than with Sachin. With Sachin I tried not to. He was certainly at a different stage in his career when I played against him. He had this sort of God-like presence, and how he was held in India. It was incredible how the fans treated him and looked up to him. But as Virat’s career went on, that became more and more like that for him. But at the start of his career, it wasn’t quite intimidating.”
