I had no problem with what Anderson said about Kohli: Nasser Hussain

Former England captain Nasser Hussain has come to the support of the under fire James Anderson who has been at the receiving end for making criticising comments about Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. At the press conference at the end of Day 4 during the 4th Test in Mumbai, Anderson stated that Kohli’s technical faults gets hidden due to the supportive pitches in India.

Tempers flared high when Anderson walked out in the middle on the final day of the Mumbai Test. And surprisingly, it was R. Ashwin who confronted Anderson before Kohli intervened to douse the fire.

“I had no problem with what he said about Kohli. It didn’t feel like criticism to me,” said Hussain.

Hussain said even Kohli “must know he needs to make runs in England to be considered a truly great player”. “He loses half a mark because I still think he’s not quite patient enough as a captain,” he said.

Hussain, however, acknowledged Kohli’s brilliant double-hundred at the Wankhede. “That was one of the best double-hundreds I’ve seen, on a ground that’s witnessed some great players. For him to bat like he did was a genius,” he added.

Meanwhile, another former England skipper Michael Vaughan took to twitter to question the International Cricket Council for not punishing Ashwin for his altercation with Anderson. “I don’t understand @ICC why @benstokes38 was done for dissent in Mohali but @ashwinravi99 gets away with it in Mumbai? Please explain,” he tweeted.

In the past couple of days, Kohli has received support from various quarters. His childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma, in particular, bashed Anderson in two different interviews inside two days.

“Just wanted to remind Anderson that Virat has five Test hundreds in Australia which produces the fastest pitches,” Sharma told PTI Bhasha referring to Kohli’s 992 runs in 8 Tests.

Sharma further took a dig at Anderson and reminded him of his poor run in the ongoing series against India so far.

“This is a childish statement from Anderson. What has he done in the matches that he has played? He is also not getting wickets in India. He may be a good pacer but he has to also take wickets in India. Taking wickets in England can’t be a parameter to term someone great,” Sharma told.