James Anderson, an England fast bowler who is perhaps the best in history, played his last Test match on Friday at the Lord’s, where the hosts defeated the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs. With four wickets taken to finish with 704 wickets, the highest of any bowler in Test cricket history, Anderson ended his career on a strong note. With seven wickets in the longest format of the game, Anderson finishes third only to the late great Shane Warne of Australia (708), and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka (800).
Following his farewell match, Anderson talked about his experiences facing former India captain Virat Kohli, whom he had seven Test wickets against during his career.
While Anderson acknowledged that getting rid of Kohli early in his career was simple, he also stated that it currently seemed to be very difficult.
“I feel like you go so up and down. Some series you feel amazing and then the next one, you’re not quite on it. Playing against Virat Kohli in the early days, you feel like you could get him out every ball; now, you feel like you can’t get him out at all and feel so inferior,” Anderson told Sky Sports.
During India’s 2014 tour of England, Anderson had four wickets in four innings against the then-India captain Kohli. However, four years later, when the series ended with 600 runs scored, Anderson found it difficult to contain the great batsman.
Regarding his play, Anderson stated that he was fortunate enough to have a career spanning more than 20 years without suffering an injury.
“Obviously this morning was quite emotional with the two teams lined up and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special. Happy that I’ve been lucky enough to stay injury-free pretty much throughout my career. And yeah, play for England. It’s the best job in the world, so I’ve been privileged to be able to do it for a long time,” he added.
