Former England fast bowler James Anderson has showered praise on Virat Kohli for being a chase-master. Kohli’s record in ODIs while chasing targets in the second innings is insane. In successful chases, Kohli has amassed 5786 runs in 96 ODI innings at an impressive average of 90.40 and a strike rate of 97.16.
Anderson, who shared a great rivalry with Kohli during his heydays, said the India superstar’s self-belief is very high, which helps him in delivering the goods.
The talisman is known to pace his innings and he is almost unbeatable once he gets settled at the crease. Kohli has scored 7452 runs in 155 ODI innings at an average of 64.36 and a strike rate of 93.56 while batting in the second innings, including 27 centuries.
James Anderson said on the BBC 5 Tailenders podcast, “I do not know if there has been a better batter in the history of the game batting second and chasing down scores than Virat Kohli. His record at chasing is absolutely phenomenal.
“The number of hundreds he has scored in the second innings, chasing down scores is ridiculous. It is no surprise that when he gets in that situation, with his mentality, it is just like it is meant to be. His self-belief is so high.”
Anderson, who recently retired from Test cricket, added Michael Bevan comes close but he can’t think of a better batter than Virat Kohli while chasing in white-ball formats.
“I cannot say that. I was thinking more in terms of just chasing. Michael Bevan from Australia comes to my mind, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s – he was just phenomenal coming in at number six and doing that job.
“Kohli batting at number 3 gets those hundreds while Bevan was renowned for getting his 50s, 60s and being at the end while Kohli gets the big score, to get his teams over the line. I honestly can’t think of a better finisher and greater white-ball players than him [Kohli].”
Kohli will be next seen in action in the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
