Kohli and I traded dominance, didn't feel like that with Sachin: James Anderson
London, Jun 16 (PTI): England fast bowling great James Anderson enjoyed his battles against Indian stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli over the course of his 21-year long career but he found bowling to the latter a tad tougher.
Anderson, who made his Test debut in 2003, retired only last season to cap off a special career.
The Lancastrian got success both against Tendulkar and Kohli, dismissing the Indian superstars nine and seven times respectively.
"I had some success early against Kohli the first time he came to England (2014). I really exploited, he had a weakness outside off stump, really exploited that and then the next time I played against him (in 2018) he'd obviously gone away and worked on that and it was like bowling at a different player," Anderson told talkSport.
However, it is worth mentioning that Tendulkar and Kohli were at different stages of their careers when they faced the challenge from Anderson, who continues to play county cricket at 42.
"He'd (Kohli) really taken his game to a different level made it very difficult for not just me but for the bowlers in general and I think I got him out maybe four or five times the first series and then didn't get him out in the next series I played against him.
"Against Sachin for example I didn't feel like there was that sort of shift in dominance with Kohli, there was definitely a shift and yeah I found him a really difficult player to bowl at because he also had that sort of steely mindset."
He referred to Tendulkar as a 'God like' figure while Kohli was an in your face character.
"Kohli wanted to get into a battle. He wanted you to know (that). He's very competitive and after that initial success it was pretty difficult to go up against him.
"With someone like Kohli he was a slightly different character to Sachin who was very mild-mannered, very calm at the crease and Virat was more expressive with his emotions and wore his emotions on his sleeve and you could kind of see it with his captaincy when he celebrated wickets and stuff like that," added Anderson.
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Brazil's Ancelotti raises doubts about whether Neymar will reach the 2026 World Cup
Sao Paulo (AP): Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti raised doubts about whether Neymar will be in his squad for the 2026 World Cup. The Italian has yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May.
“If Neymar deserves to be (in the squad), if he is, well, better than others, he will play in the World Cup and that's it. (But) I don't have debts to anyone,” Ancelotti said at a press conference in Washington on Friday following the draw.
Brazil is in Group C with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland.
“If we speak about Neymar, we have to speak about other players,” Ancelotti added. “We have to think about Brazil with or without Neymar, with or without other players. Our final list we will make after the FIFA fixtures in March.”
The 33-year-old Neymar has never fully recovered from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he's been key for Santos in its fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship.
On Wednesday, he scored a hat trick for Santos despite a muscular injury. He is expected to play again on Sunday against Cruzeiro.
Ancelotti said Brazil does not have a “referential player” at the moment, a tag for the most valuable player that Neymar has mainly worn since the 2014 home World Cup.
“We have one of the world's best goalkeepers, some of the best defenders, top midfielders and some players up front. I don't want players who want to be the best in the world, I want players who want to win the World Cup,” Ancelotti said.
Asked about his team's group, Ancelotti said Brazil can top it.
“We can win all three matches, our idea is very clear. We need to be competitive during the entire World Cup. Our goal is to play in the final and for that to happen you need to face very strong teams anyway.”
Brazil won the last of its five World Cup trophies in 2002.
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