Legendary fast bowler James Anderson has looked back on his experiences of bowling to two of India’s greatest-ever batters — Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar — highlighting the different challenges each posed. Anderson noted that while he had early success against Kohli during the batter’s maiden tour of England, Kohli became progressively harder to dismiss in subsequent series.
Anderson, whose Test career spanned from 2003 to 2024, bowled to both Tendulkar and Kohli at various stages. Remarkably, Anderson holds the record for dismissing both players the most in their respective Test careers.
Between 2012 and 2022, Anderson dismissed Kohli seven times across 25 matches. Against Tendulkar, he claimed the maestro’s wicket nine times in 14 matches between 2006 and 2012.
Kohli struggled during the 2014 series in England, scoring just 134 runs across five Tests, with Anderson dismissing him four times. However, after that tour, Anderson managed to dismiss Kohli only twice more in the remainder of their careers. It was during that 2014 series that Kohli’s vulnerability to the moving ball outside off stump was first exposed — a weakness Anderson expertly exploited.
“I had some success early against Kohli the first time he came to England (2014). I really exploited his weakness outside off stump and then the next time I played against him (in 2018), he had obviously gone away and worked on that — it was like bowling to a different player,” Anderson told the TalkSport Podcast.
‘KOHLI MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT’
The 42-year-old pacer, who now plays County Championship cricket after retiring from Tests in 2024, explained that unlike with Tendulkar, he witnessed a clear shift in the balance of power in his contests with Kohli.
“He’d really taken his game to a different level. He made it very difficult, not just for me, but for bowlers in general. I think I got him out four or five times in the first series, and then I didn’t get him out in the next series at all.
“Against Sachin, for example, I didn’t feel like there was that sort of shift in dominance. With Kohli, there definitely was, and I found him a really difficult player to bowl at because he also had that steely mindset.”
England will take on India in a five-match Test series from 20 June to 5 August in the post-Anderson era. The series, led by Shubman Gill on the Indian side, will also not feature Virat Kohli, who retired from Test cricket in May.
