James Anderson finally got the wicket of Virat Kohli, and it is the first time in seven years that the ace England fast bowler has dismissed the Indian captain. Kohli was out for a first-ball duck as he nicked a delivery that moved away after it pitched.
Anderson vs Kohli has been a major subplot almost every time both teams have squared off in Test cricket since the start of 2014. In 2014, the ace England fast bowler was all over Kohli, who had a wretched tour of England. Kohli could muster a mere 134 runs in 10 innings, and Anderson got him four times in that five-match series. Overall, between 2012 and 2014, Kohli averaged a mere 8.40 against Anderson.
However, the Indian skipper bounced back in style. In the next three Test series (two in India – 2016, 2021 and one in England – 2018), Kohli did not get out against Anderson. The Indian captain scored 194 runs off from 434 balls across those three series which included 114 runs from 270 balls on India’s tour to England in 2018.
Hence, once again, ahead of the series in England, Anderson vs Kohli was highly built up. And Anderson didn’t need more than one delivery to get rid of the Indian captain.
Anderson first had Cheteshwar Pujara caught behind in his second over after lunch on day two of the first Test at Trent Bridge. Kohli walked out to bat with India’s score reading 104/2. Anderson bowled a beautiful delivery that just nipped away after pitching, which found Kohli’s edge and wicket-keeper Jos Buttler took a comfortable catch.
Anderson was delighted as he dismissed Kohli for the first time since 2014. Overall, it was the sixth time that the veteran England fast bowler dismissed the Indian captain in Test cricket.
Kohli’s poor run in 2021 continued. The Indian captain now has scored only 229 runs at an average of 25.44 in Test cricket in 2021 and has recorded only a couple of half-centuries from nine innings. Moreover, the three-figure mark continues to elude him, and he has now gone 47 innings without an international hundred (his last one came in November 2019).
