Virat Kohli has won the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year award seven times, while Sachin Tendulkar has done it nine times. James Anderson has removed two of India's finest Test players. Name me a few bowlers who have dominated both Tendulkar and Kohli, let alone bowled to them. Only one exists. Ander-freaking-son. Throughout various phases of his career, the former England fast bowler faced off against Tendulkar and Kohli numerous times. In fact, during the 2010s, his encounters with Kohli generated more interesting headlines than Tendulkar. Fifteen Test matches were played over eight years. Anderson and Kohli had that much history between them.

Anderson selected Virat Kohli as the most challenging batsman to bowl to when asked, recalling his encounters with him and Sachin Tendulkar. Everyone recalls Anderson exposing Virat's susceptibility to deliveries outside the off stump during Kohli's first Test tour of England in 2014. Kohli put up an incredible performance in 2018, scoring 697 runs in four Tests while leaving Anderson without a wicket against him. After 134 runs in four Tests, he Although Anderson had the last laugh in 2021, it was not as one-sided as it had been in 2014. Anderson's matchup with Sachin wasn't as fierce as his one with Kohli since Tendulkar was already a legendary figure when he faced him.

"I had some success early against Kohli during his first visit to England in 2014. I took full use of his vulnerability outside the off stump, but the next time I faced him—he had obviously returned and improved on that—he was a completely different player. He had truly elevated his game to a whole new level, making it challenging not just for me but for bowlers in general. Anderson stated on the talkSport podcast, "I got him out 4-5 times in the first series and then didn't get him out in the next I played against him."

"For instance, I didn't sense that kind of shift in supremacy against Sachin. There was undoubtedly a change with Kohli. I discovered him to be quite challenging to bowl at because he had a steely attitude and wanted to engage in combat. "He's really competitive, and it was quite hard to bowl against him after that early success."

Anderson and Kohli faced off against each other several times, but none was more debated than what happened four years ago at the Lord's Test. Following Jasprit Bumrah's bombardment of James Anderson with six short-pitched balls in an over—and then some more—Anderson fired back with a few verbal salvos. Kohli said to Anderson, "You swearing at me? Just like you did against Jasprit? This isn't your fu**ing backyard," so much so that he was at the non-striker end. With Tendulkar, the situation was not as heated.

Anderson's opposing fights with Kohli and Tendulkar

"Sachin was very mild and well-behaved; very composed at the crease. Kohli was a little different from him." Virat showed his feelings more openly. You can see it somewhat since he wore them on his sleeves. during his captaincy, when he rejoiced in his wickets. I made every effort to eliminate that sensation from the equation and simply consider him as a hitter, rather than about who he was. Anderson noted, "It was difficult at times; we had many battles on the field."

"I surely had more spoken arguments with Virat than I did with Sachin. I made an effort not to do so with Sachin. When I competed against him, he was undoubtedly at a different point in his professional life. He was regarded in India with this kind of God-like aura. The way the fans treated him and idolized him was amazing. However, as Virat's career progressed, it increasingly resembled that for him. However, it wasn't very frightening at the beginning of his career.

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