Virat Kohli’s name is etched in gold in the history of Test cricket. The former Indian captain played 113 Tests, scoring 8,848 runs at an average of 49.15, with 29 centuries and 30 fifties. He led India to the No.1 Test ranking and was at the helm when India reached the final of the inaugural World Test Championship.
What set Kohli apart was his passion, fitness, consistency, and the hunger to dominate bowlers around the world in the most challenging format of the game. His aggression, combined with his technical precision, made him a modern-day great.
Virat Kohli names the toughest pacer he has ever faced in Test cricket
In a heartfelt moment that stirred up nostalgia for cricket fans, Virat Kohli named England pacer James Anderson as the toughest bowler he has ever faced in Test cricket. The statement came shortly after Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, drawing the curtain on a glorious red-ball career that spanned over a decade.
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Virat Kohli and James Anderson’s rivalry is one of the most iconic individual duels in Test cricket. It had everything—mind games, dominance, redemption, and mutual respect.
2014 (England): The first chapter began in England, and it was brutal for Kohli. Anderson tormented him with movement, dismissing him 5 times in 10 innings. Kohli’s technique was exposed, and questions were raised about his overseas capabilities.
2016 (India): The tide turned. On spin-friendly tracks, Kohli was unstoppable. He amassed 655 runs in the five-match series. Anderson didn’t dismiss Kohli even once. The psychological tables had turned.
2018 (England): Kohli’s redemption tour. Determined to bury the ghosts of 2014, he was in supreme control. He scored 593 runs at an average of 59.3 and didn’t fall to Anderson a single time. This series is considered one of the finest displays of batting by an Indian on English soil.
2021 (England): The rivalry was back. Anderson got Kohli twice, but the series ended 2-2, with both legends landing their punches.
2024–25 (India): The much-hyped final face-off didn’t materialize. Kohli withdrew from the series due to personal reasons, making the end of the Kohli-Anderson saga an anti-climactic close.
For Kohli to name Anderson as the toughest speaks volumes. Both players pushed each other to the limit, and fans were lucky to witness this intense battle unfold over a decade. Kohli may have retired from Tests, but this rivalry—full of highs and lows—will remain immortal in cricket folklore.