‘He’s averaging 20' - James Anderson opens up on his banter with Virat Kohli at Lords

Tempers flared between the India and England players during the second Test at Lords. It all started when Jasprit Bumrah bowled a barrage of short balls to James Anderson on Day 3 which the latter didn’t enjoy, obviously. At stumps, Bumrah made a friendly gesture to Anderson and patted him on the back but the seamer was fuming in anger and said a few words, which didn’t look friendly, to Bumrah. The teams continued to have a go at each other during the final two days of the Test. Meanwhile, few words were exchanged between Anderson and Virat Kohli as well.

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The veteran seamer has now opened up on what transpired between him and Bumrah on Day 3. Anderson said Kohli tried to tease him during his stay at the crease which got the better of him and he felt he had to say something in return. The tussle was not merely on the field and several reports stated that Kohli and Root also exchanged heated arguments on their way to the dressing room.

“The emotion got the better of me and I felt I had to say something. I felt bad for doing that because it drew attention away from Rooty (Joe Root) celebrating an amazing innings as he came off the field,” Anderson was quoted by Foxsports.

“I apologised to him afterwards for that but the emotion got the better of me. It happens sometimes.”

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The 39-year-old pacer, however, regrets getting involved in the banter as he feels this attitude was more fitting to the team that defeated India in 2011, which had players like Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad.

“They were similar to Kohli in some respects. They liked the battle on the field,” Anderson wrote. “Now we go about our cricket in a different way so I have to remember that when I am on the field. It is pointless just one person getting into a fight with someone.”

England got carried away with the tense situation and tried to give it back to the Indian tailenders when they came out to bat in India’s second innings. However, the move of bowling short backfired as Bumrah and Shami stitched an unbeaten 89 runs stand to hand the advantage to India. Anderson admitted it was a mistake on England’s behalf.

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The pacer also highlighted Kohli’s struggle in the series and said he averages just 20 on the tour.

“We have to remember Virat is averaging 20 in the series, proving we have bowled well at a great player - but I would rather he was averaging 80 and we were 1-0 up,” he added.