The ongoing Test series between India and England has so far witnessed some interesting match-ups but a fierce contest between Virat Kohli and veteran pacer James Anderson is something that the fans and experts are craving for. One of them is former England captain Nasser Hussain who is looking forward to the battle between two stalwarts of Test cricket.
The former India skipper pulled out of the first two Tests citing personal reasons while the 41-year-old fast bowler was benched in the Hyderabad Test but returned in Visakhapatnam to bag five wickets across two innings. And as far as the battle between them is concerned, Anderson has had Kohli’s numbers 7 times in 25 Tests.
In a Q&A session for the Daily Mail, Hussain said, “I hope he does come back because the only thing this series has been missing is the battle between Kohli and Jimmy Anderson. I’m looking forward to that.”
Hussain opined that the Indian will appear fiercer if Virat Kohli returns for the last three Tests.
“The one thing about India is that in three of their four innings, they have been a bit sloppy. I know Rahul Dravid, and he would have been ticking inside at some of the dismissals so far. India will think, ‘We keep on giving England a sniff here, let’s be more ruthless’. And the one thing Kohli is, absolutely ruthless,” Hussain said.
Kohli’s return unlikely
As reported by the Press Trust of India, Kohli is likely to miss the third and fourth Tests against England. His return for the final Test in Dharamsala are also slim but the board isn’t looking that far ahead as that particular match is still a month away.
“The BCCI has time and again made it clear that when it comes to family matters, it stands firmly behind the cricketer and it will be Virat’s call when he is ready to make a comeback. As of now, it looks unlikely that he will play in the series,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by the agency.
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