ENG vs IND | Absolute honour to learn from Anderson, says Ollie Robinson
Robinson bagged four of the eight Indian wickets that fell on Saturday
|Ollie Robinson, who bagged his second Test five-for to power England to a series-levelling win at Headingley, revelled in the joy of pairing with James Anderson. Robinson dented India’s progress early on Saturday, getting the crucial wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in quick succession.
With his consistent returns throughout the home summer, Ollie Robinson has stamped class as a fine Test-match bowler. After bagging seven wickets on his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s in June, Robinson now leads the wicket-taking charts in the ongoing series against India, with 16 scalps at 19.06.
On Saturday, he set it up for England with key wickets of Pujara and Kohli first up, before accounting for Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma later during his eight-over spell.
The 27-year-old was immensely pleased to contribute in England’s win, at a venue where he’d first started off as a List A cricketer eight years ago.
"Very special, something you dream about, to get it at Headingley where I started my career is very special,” said Robinson, after he was named the Player of the Match on Saturday. “Knew from before that I enjoyed bowling here, was quite excited at the chance to play for England here, very special to get five-for in an England victory.”
Robinson considered himself extremely fortunate to bowl alongside James Anderson, who, on Saturday, became only the second bowler to register 400 Test wickets on home soil.
“It's an absolute honour to learn from him, it's been something that's improved my game,” Robinson said of his pairing with the third highest wicket-taker in Tests. “I’ll keep trying to be as good as possible and hopefully, keep opening the bowling with him.”
The right-arm quick was thrilled at dismissing Virat Kohli for the second time in the series, in a manner similar to how he’d done at Lord’s.
“It was nice to get him out like that, especially after he hit me for two fours in the over... Same plan for Virat, fourth/fifth stump, trying to angle it away, and hopefully he nicks it,” he said.
