Nasser Hussain wants Virat Kohli to comeback for England Tests so that James Anderson can dismiss him

Former England captain Nasser Hussain who has 3 Test centuries to his name against India twice in 1996 and once in 2002, feels the only thing that went missing in the first two of a 5-match Test series between England and India is the fiery rivalry between 2 greats of the game – batting stalwart Virat Kohli going head-to-head against the evergreen swing king James Anderson.

Virat Kohli missed the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam due to personal reasons while James Anderson after remaining absent in England’s 28-run win in the 1st Test, came back into the playing XI during their heavy 106-run loss in the 2nd Test a couple of days ago.

Anderson registered 3 wickets in the 1st innings upon his first Test appearance in India since 2020/21. He made 24-year-old Shubman Gill his first scalp at the ACA-VDCA stadium before naming Ravichandran Ashwin and the series’ first double-hundred scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal for 209.

Also Read: John Fraser-McGurk to replace David Warner? Ricky Ponting comes up with sensational revelation

His skill set and efficiency with the new ball remain to be his major weapon against high-class batters. Though his efforts weren’t sufficient enough to give England the win Anderson had a great running ground at Vizag. In the 3rd Test with India expecting to welcome back Virat Kohli at number 4, fans will be treated to a classic competition between him and the English veteran.

The duo have faced each other in 2021 and their head-to-head stats go this way – overall, Anderson has claimed Kohli’s wicket on 10 occasions in 37 meetings, and in the longest format, the former has claimed the latter 7 times in 25 Test matches.

When they come up against each other hopefully at Rajkot from February 15th, both of them will have contrasting milestones to achieve in the same match. While Anderson will look to become the first-ever fast bowler to enter the 700-Test wicket club, which he is just 5 wickets away from, Virat Kohli will be aiming to smack his long-awaited 30th Test century.

The 41-year-old Englishman will also be aiming to topple the record of Shane Warne’s 708 Test wicket mark, something that is very much on the cards to happen by the end of this series itself. Nasser Hussain, under whose captaincy James Anderson made his Test debut, hoped for Kohli to return so that the series could become even more exciting to watch.

“I hope he does come back because the only thing this series has been missing is the battle between Kohli and Jimmy Anderson. I’m looking forward to that.” – Hussain told the Daily Mail.

Also Read: WPL 2024: UP Warriorz Squad, Schedule, Team List, Players List, Released Players, Retained Players List, Traded Players, Captain, Vice Captain

“He Is Absolutely Ruthless”, Nasser Hussain Backs Virat Kohli To Strengthen India’s Batting Order

The 55-year-old highlighted India’s hot and cold batting performance in the first two Tests, claiming that head coach Rahul Dravid will be working behind the scenes to curb that. He also stated that the inclusion of Virat Kohli will boost India’s batting order before calling him a ruthless cricketer.

“The one thing about India is that in three of their four innings they have been a bit sloppy. I know Rahul Dravid, and he would have been ticking inside at some of the dismissals so far. India will think, ‘We keep on giving England a sniff here, let’s be more ruthless’. And the one thing Kohli is, is absolutely ruthless.” – Nasser Hussain concluded.

Also Read: Kevin Pietersen brags about dismissing MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan counters him with Yuvraj Singh bouncer