IND vs ENG: James Anderson terms Virat Kohli's absence from Test series a 'shame'
IND vs ENG: James Anderson terms Virat Kohli's absence as 'shame' having missed entire Test series
Veteran England speedster James Anderson has termed Virat Kohli’s absence from the ongoing Test series against England as “shameful” after the latter decided to miss all five matches. Virat, who is on paternity leave after becoming a father for the second time was supposed to participate in the latter stage of the series but opted to stay away. In Virat’s absence, India won the five-match series 3-1 with still a Test match to go in Dharamsala.
Anderson comments on Virat
“Yeah, you always want to play against the best players. And it’s been a shame that he’s not been a part of the series. We have had some great battles over the years. But not just for me, I think as a team you want to play against the best in the world and he certainly is that” Anderson said on JioCinema.
“I guess English fans will be thankful he’s not playing because he’s such a quality player. But from our point of view, you want to test yourself, you want to come up against the best and he’s been someone who I’ve found really challenging to bowl at over the years and it’s a shame he’s not been playing,” Anderson added.
Interestingly, with James Anderson now 41, it is highly unlikely that the speedster andVirat could meet again in a competitive match.
Virat, poised to play against England against whom he has 1,991 Test runs, requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to stay away from cricket and skipped the important series. Virat needed 52 more runs to make England his statistically favourite Test-playing nation in terms of runs having only scored more Test runs against Australia (2042 runs). However,he now has to wait for another series to achieve the feat.
ALSO READ |Former World Cup winner and MP Gautam Gambhir requests ruling BJP for release from political duties
India lost the Hyderabad Test and were down 0-1 before launching a fightback in the absence of Virat. Rohit Sharma’s men won the Vizag, Rajkot and Ranchi Tests on a trot to handBen Stokeshis first series defeat as the captain of the national side. Since he took over the reins of the side in June 2022, England had not lost a series before India came good at them.
The two sides will next meet on Thursday (Mar 7) in the final Test match in Dharamsala.India will bringback Jasprit Bumrah for the match, while KL Rahul has beenruled out. In his absence, Dhruv Jurel, Player of the Match in Ranchi, will continue to don the gloves for Team India.
