Mumbai: James Anderson on Sunday took a dig at Virat Kohli despite latter’s brilliant run of form in the ongoing five-match series.
The England pacer, who tormented Kohli during England’s 3-1 series win in 2014, said that the Indian pitches have not exposed Kohli’s technical deficiencies.
“I am not sure he has changed much. But it is just that whatever 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 that we get in England with a bit more movement and pace in the pitch,” said Anderson.
“He is very much suited to play in these conditions as we have seen he is a very good player of spin. If you are not bang on money and don’t take your chances, he will punish you,” added England’s leading wicket-taker in the longer format of the game.
Anderson, meanwhile, lamented England’s failure to convert the half-chances which came their way.
“It is immensely frustrating. We needed to get three early wickets (today) when they were 50 ahead. If we had done that, we would have been still in the game. But unfortunately, we did not bowl as well as we could have this morning. The ball started to fly this morning and then they got settled in and formed a big partnership,” said Anderson.
However, Anderson stressed on the fact that England, who have lost six wickets and still trailing India by 49 runs, would look to put India under pressure on the final day of the Test.
“We are not going for a draw. In these conditions, if you get stuck, you are in a rut. If we bat with intent like we did today and take a lead, then there’s no reason why we can’t put pressure back on India (on Day 5),” concluded Anderson.
