Watch: James Anderson inspires Virat Kohli with memories of admiration

Former England bowler James Anderson has announced his retirement from the game. In the opening Test of the current series against the West Indies, the 41-year-old played his final match at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. Star Sports paid homage to Anderson on the occasion of his retirement by taking centre stage.

They released a video of Virat Kohli, the standout batsman for India, professing his respect for Anderson. During an England visit, Kohli first developed a strong affection for Anderson, which he revealed in the old tape when discussing his early years.

The video featured a number of significant incidents from Anderson’s career as well as Kohli disclosing that, when he first started playing cricket, he used to try to mimic Anderson’s bowling motion.

James Anderson was bowling during a Test match we were playing in Southampton as part of an England tour. After the game, I informed him that in the cricket academy, I used to mimic his bowling motion,” Kohli said to Star Sports.

 

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The two have been on stage together for a long time, and even though they compete against one another on the pitch, they clearly appreciate one another. In 36 Test matches, Kohli has faced Anderson and has made 305 runs with 39 boundaries off of him. Anderson, on the other hand, has removed Kohli seven times.

A mainstay of England cricket, Anderson concluded his career with 704 wickets, ranking third in Test cricket history. The speedster will go down in history as one of the finest pacers of all time, not just of his period.

Also Read: Early on, you thought you could get Virat Kohli out every ball; now you can’t. James Anderson

The 41-year-old has also recently come up to discuss his conflicts with Virat Kohli. “I think you fluctuate so much. You feel like you’re on the next series, but not quite, after the first one. Anderson told Sky Sports, “When you played against [Virat] Kohli in the beginning, you felt like you could get him out every ball; now, you feel like you can’t get him out at all and feel so inferior.”