Virat Kohli's coach questions Anderson's performance on Indian wicket

Following James Anderson’s recent claims that Indian Test captain Virat Kohli’s technical deficiencies were not quite visible in subcontinental conditions, Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma questioned the fast bowler’s credentials in Indian conditions.

After the end of Day 4, Anderson had said that Kohli was a very good player on Indian conditions and all his technical flaws were not quite visible in these conditions. He referred back to the 2014 series where Anderson bossed over Kohli dismissing him several times where the conditions were more conducive to fast bowling.

“I’m not sure he’s changed. I just think any technical deficiencies he’s got aren’t in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement.”

“When that’s not there, he’s very much suited to playing in these conditions. He’s a very good player of spin and if you’re not bang on the money and don’t take your chances, he’ll punish you,” Anderson had said about Kohli.

Hitting back at his comments, Rajkumar Sharma felt that taking wickets only in England doesn’t make Anderson a good bowler. He has to take wickets in Indian conditions too to prove his mettle.

“I would say one thing. What he has done on Indian wicket? He is a great bowler. But he should also have done well on Indian wicket. If you are playing in England and taking wicket that doesn’t make you great bowler. You have to perform well in India also. You need to take wickets here also before speaking anything about Virat. And the way Virat has treated him, he went wicket-less in the last match. How can he say so many things to somebody who is doing so well?” asked Rajkumar.

“If he would have got him out and then he would have said something like this, I would have accepted it. But at the same time I question his performance on the Indian track, what he has done on the Indian track,” he told ANI in an exclusive conversation.

India defeated England by an innings and 36 runs in the Mumbai Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5-match series with a match to go.