Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar? James Anderson reveals the real nightmare

England pace legend James Anderson has faced some of the all-time great batters in his illustrious career, but when it comes to giving him the toughest time, his answer was straightforward, and it is none other than India’s modern-era legend Virat Kohli.

James Anderson admitted that when he first bowled to Virat Kohli during India’s 2014 tour of England, he troubled him a lot. At that time, Kohli was still finding his feet in tough English conditions and struggled outside the off-stump.

James Anderson picks Virat Kohli over Sachin Tendulkar as the toughest batter he has bowled to

The English seamer made the most of the young Kohli’s weakness and dismissed him five times in that series. Well, the next time Kohli came to England, Anderson expected a similar dominance, but he got to face a whole different version of the Indian batting icon.

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The dashing right-hander had transformed his game so completely that Anderson could barely get past him. The same fast bowler who troubled him a lot found it tough to unsettle the batter. Notably, in 36 innings against Anderson, Kohli scored 305 runs at an average of 43.57.

Anderson managed to dismiss Kohli 7 times in his Test career. Their face-offs were full of intensity, but there was always respect between them. And now the legendary England bowler put Kohli above the batting Sachin Tendulkar. Anderson found Kohli a tougher batter to bowl to than Tendulkar.

Virat Kohli was totally different player after 2014 tour: James Anderson

James Anderson said on the talkSPORT Cricket Podcast, “I think I had some success early against Kohli. The first time he came to England, I think it was 2014, you know I really exploited—he had a weakness outside of stump—really exploited that.

And then the next time I played against him, he'd obviously gone away and worked on that, and it was like bowling at a different player. He'd really taken his game to a different level, making it very difficult for not just me, but for the bowlers in general.”

The Englishman said that Kohli’s competitive fire, sharp focus, and tactical brilliance made him almost impossible to outsmart. He even compared this shift in dominance to Sachin Tendulkar, saying no one changed their game against him as dramatically as Kohli.

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James Anderson says Virat Kohli transformed like no one else

Anderson further explained, “I think I got him out maybe four or five times the first series and then didn't get him out in the next series I played against him. I didn't feel like there was that sort of shift in dominance against Sachin. I think with Kohli there was definitely a shift.

And yeah, I found him a really difficult player to bowl at because he also had that sort of steely mindset. He wanted to get into a battle; he wanted to, you know, he's very competitive, and yeah, after that, for initial success, it was pretty difficult to go up against.”

Even the legendary fast bowler felt that bowling to Kohli was different from bowling to Sachin. Kohli showed more emotion on the field, which made their battles more intense. Anderson often had to focus only on Kohli’s batting, not his personality, but it was tough. Anderson said that his matchups with Virat Kohli were fierier than with Sachin. He also said that is the toughest batter he bowled to in the Fab 4.

James Anderson said "Virat Kohli is the toughest batter I have bowled to in the Fab 4. [TalkSport podcast] pic.twitter.com/wdjBWOqDKg

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 16, 2025