‘I think the fiercest…’ - James Anderson’s special tribute to his long-time rival Virat Kohli on Test retirement

Former England pace-bowling legend, James Anderson, came up with high praises for his fiercest challenge, Virat Kohli, after the latter announced his retirement from the Tests. The legendary Indian batter hung up his boots in red-ball cricket at the highest level of the game on Monday, May 12, with a special Instagram post.

Notably, James Anderson and Virat Kohli had faced each other in both English and Indian conditions. Their head-to-head face-off was one of the most talked-about points in the cricketing field till the time they both were active in Test cricket.

“Fiercest competitor out of that top-4 is definitely Kohli” - James Anderson 

James Anderson lauded his compatriot Joe Root, but still ranked Kohli as the ‘fiercest competitor’ and his spirit of fighting in the tough situations.

“Incredible. I've said Joe [Root] is at the top, (because of) his ability to adapt to different conditions. He tinkers with his techniques all the time, which makes sure he's ready for everything that's thrown at him. But I think the fiercest competitor out of that top-4 is definitely Kohli,” said Anderson to talkSport.

“The battles we had were incredible. He's a guy you want to get into a battle with on the field. He stood his ground, and he's obviously a fantastic player as well,” he added later.

Furthermore, the legendary Englishman also drew a comparison of the modern-day Fab Four, including India’s Virat Kohli, England’s Joe Root, alongside Steve Smith and Kane Williamson of Australia and New Zealand, with the former legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar. He said, ‘Just below Tendulkar’ while rating all of the Fab Four greats in high regard.

Speaking of Kohli’s illustrious Test career, he scored 9230 runs in 210 innings of the 123 Tests he played. The 36-year-old scores these runs with a brilliant batting average of 46.85, hitting 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. He also had seven half-centuries to his credit in the glorious 14-year-long Test career for India.