If India want to win in England, Virat Kohli will need to score big, claims James Anderson

The recent ODI series loss against England will serve as an eye-opener for the Indian squad ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series next month. Virat Kohli & Co. suffered a narrow 2-1 loss to their British counterparts who prevailed in the final ODI thanks to a match-winning century from Joe Root.

Despite a disappointing loss, Indian skipper - Virat Kohli endured a decent outing with the bat as he scored 75, 45, and 71 respectively in the three ODI games he participated in. England pacer and vice-captain of the Test team, James Anderson, claimed that Virat Kohli's form would be crucial for the visitors if they are eyeing to secure a win in the upcoming five-match Test series which will begin on August 1.

“It doesn’t matter if he gets runs or not? I think he is telling lies there. For India to win here, of course it matters. Virat will be desperate to score runs for his team, as you would expect from the captain and one of the best players in the world,” Anderson said during an exclusive chat with PTI.

At the beginning of India's UK tour, Kohli had laughed off queries about his personal form, as he reiterated that he wanted to enjoy his time in England rather than obsess over his individual form on the pitch. On India’s tour of England in 2014, Kohli had struggled to get going with the bat and managed only 134 runs in five Tests which was till date one of his worst Test performances for the Indian team. Even though the 29-year old made up for that when he scored 655 runs in five Tests against England in the home series (2016-17) to lead his side to a 4-0 win, the 2014 England tour still continued to haunt the Indian skipper.

“I am sure he (Kohli) is practising hard at certain aspects of his game and that will make the battle between him and not just myself, but him and the rest of our bowlers, a really exciting one,” Anderson said.

However, things might seem to favour the indians this time round, especially the bowlers due to the heat wave in England at present. Anderson revealed that the conditions could suit India more in the upcoming series.

“...we have had a hot few weeks (and a hot summer overall). So the pitches may well be dry and suit India more than us. That is something we will take into account when we come into that series. We will be hopeful that we have a couple of weeks of rain before the series starts and be able to grow some grass on the wickets,” Anderson added.