James Anderson has a reputation for being a grumpy fast bowler but he admitted to feeling emotional after breaking into a wild celebration upon claiming the prized wicket of Virat Kohli for a golden duck.
Anderson dismissed Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli, the India captain, in successive balls as England fought back on a rain-affected second day of the first Test at Trent Bridge.
It had been three full series between England and India since Anderson last dismissed Kohli — having got him out four times for 19 runs in the 2014 series between the sides — so it was perhaps unsurprising that England’s all-time leading wicket-taker roared with delight after getting the edge into Jos Buttler’s gloves.
Asked if it was one of his best deliveries, Anderson, 39, said: “It’s right up there. It is always good to get a world-class player out. You always want to challenge yourself against the best and he certainly is one of the best.
“There was some emotion there in the celebration after getting him out, knowing how important that was for the team.”
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Speaking about the smile on his face post- dismissal, Anderson laughed about his own reputation as a surly northerner. “Yeah, I probably used some muscles that I don’t often use there, didn’t I?” he said. “It’s such a big wicket and to bowl the ball exactly where I wanted to, and for him to nick it . . . it was just emotion at getting the team back in the game.
“Getting their best player out? It’s something that doesn’t happen that often, getting Kohli out that early. It’s quite unusual, so it was just an outpouring of emotion.”
India frustrated the home team in the morning session, showing patience against some probing English bowling and advancing to 97 without loss, before Rohit Sharma was caught on the boundary by Sam Curran, trying to hook an Ollie Robinson short ball.
“I thought the Indian openers [Sharma and KL Rahul] left brilliantly this morning,” Anderson said. “As the day went on, we got more consistent with our lines and challenged their defence more and got them playing more. I think that’s important on this wicket — trying to make them play as much as possible. I feel like I’ve challenged Virat in that area before but he’s either played and missed or he’s left it, or he’s been good enough to get through it, and today was just one of those days where he’s nicked it.”
Anderson and Robinson combined to take three wickets and Jonny Bairstow effected the run-out of Ajinkya Rahane to leave India trailing by 58 going into the third day. Robinson has returned after his suspension for historical offensive social media posts, and Anderson praised the 27-year-old Sussex bowler’s skill and mental resilience.
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“We’ve been impressed with him since he joined the group. There’s always that question about whether he is going to produce on the international stage, but he’s absolutely done that, and continues to do that,” Anderson said. “He’s got the skills to challenge any team in the world, any batsman in the world. And he’s got the right sort of mental approach to it.
“He’s a strong character. He’s consistent with his deliveries, he can swing the ball both ways, he can nip the ball off the seam and he bowls with enough pace to challenge batsmen.”
