Advertisement

Indian pitches have taken Virat Kohli's glitches out of equation, says Jimmy Anderson

Virat Kohli scored his career best 235 against England in Mumbai on Day 4 of 4th Test.

Indian pitches have taken Virat Kohli's glitches out of equation, says Jimmy Anderson

New Delhi: While many consider this as the most productive time with the bat for Virat Kohli but England fast bowler Jimmy Anderson thinks Indian pitches deserve a lot of credit for the purple patch that the Indian skipper is experiencing these days.

Ander said that the Indian tracks lack pace and movement, contrary to the conditions in England where he had made Kohli his bunny back in 2014.

Two years ago when both teams met on the English soil, Virat was constantly nicking away going deliveries outside the off-stump but it hasn't been the same case this term, as he alrady has nearly 700 runs in this series so far.

When asked how Virat Kohli's technique has changed over the course of time, Anderson had a rather interesting answer.

"I am not sure if he (Kohli) has changed. I just think any technical deficiencies he has got are not in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. There is not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England, with a bit more movement," said England's highest ever wicket-taker in Test matches.

"When that (pace and movement) is not there, he (Kohli) is very much suited to playing in these conditions. He is a very good player of spin and if you are not bang on the money and don't take your chances, he will punish you."

Anderson did not shy away from expressing his point of view behind Kohli's upturn in form since the last time they met despite the fact that the Indian skipper scored a career-best 235 on the day.

Admitting that England didn't execute their plans well, Anderson hoped that the lower order will script a dramatic turn-around on the final day to save the visitors from another embarrassing defeat.

"We are going to come here tomorrow and try to fight our way back into this game if we can. We are 50 runs behind. If we can bat with the positive intent we showed today, there's no reason why we can't get a hundred ahead of them and then try to put some pressure on them with the ball," said Anderson after England had ended Day 4 at 182 for six, still needing to make 49 runs to make the hosts bat again.

(With PTI inputs)