I Exploited Virat Kohli’s Weakness, But With Sachin I Didn’t: James Anderson Reveals ‘Most Difficult’ Choice

Sachin Tendulkar, 9; Virat Kohli, 7, that is simply how many times James Anderson has dismissed two of India's greatest in Tests. Can you name any bowlers at all who have bowled to Tendulkar and Kohli, let alone owned them? There is only one. Anderson. The man has a lot of history with Tendulkar and Kohli, of course at different stages of his career, but there is no mistaking that Kohli, more than Tendulkar, provided fantastic storylines in the 2010s, 15 Tests in 8 years. That is how much history Kohli and Anderson had.

When reflecting on his moments against Kohli and Tendulkar, Anderson picked Virat when asked who the most challenging batter to bowl was. Everyone remembers Kohli's Test debut in England 2014 when Anderson introduced the world to Virat's weakness for balls that bounced just outside off stump. After 134 runs in 4 tests in 2014, Kohli made a comeback in 2018 and scored 697 runs whilst Anderson went wicketless against him. Anderson had the last laugh in 2021, but not as dominant of a performance as in 2014. In terms of Sachin, Anderson played against him when Tendulkar was already a legend and therefore the rivalry was not as good as the one he had against Kohli.

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"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.

"Against Sachin, for example, I didn't feel like there was that sort of shift in dominance. With Kohli, there was definitely a shift. Found him a very difficult player to bowl at because he had that steely mindset, wanted to get into a battle. He's very competitive and after that initial success, it was very difficult to bowl against."

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"Anderson and Kohli had a go at each other on numerous instances, none more so talked about than what transpired four years ago during the Lord's Test. After Jasprit Bumrah had peppered Anderson with six short-pitched deliveries in an over, and then some, the England pacer responded with a few verbal volleys. So much so that Kohli, while at the non-striker end, told Anderson 'You swearing at me? Just like you did against Jasprit? This isn't your fu**ing backyard." With Tendulkar, things weren't as hot-headed."

"Kohli was a slightly different character than Sachin. Sachin was very mild, mannered; very calm at the crease. Virat was more expressive with his emotions. Wore them on his sleeves and you can kind of see it. In his captaincy, when he celebrated his wickets. I tried as much as I could to get that feeling out of the equation and just try to think of him as a batter and not too much about who it was. It was difficult at times; we had many battles on the field," pointed out Anderson.

"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."

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