Former England fast bowler James Anderson has admitted that nobody is more efficient than Kohli when it comes to chasing totals with the Indian cricketer excelling in this field, especially in the limited-overs cricket. The Lancashire lad confessed that he was completely taken aback by the display of Kohli in handling chases and the number of hundreds he has got while batting like that.
A Scoring Machine: Virat Kohli’s ODI Runs in Chasing Situations
The ex Indian captain has aggregated fifty tons in the one day cricket, out of which 27 are from a position, where the team has been asked to chase a total. Overall in 155 innings, that is at number two position or below, an aggressive right-handed batsman has managed to score 7852, with an average of 64. 36. The highest 183 was during a run-chase against Pakistan in the Asia cup played in 2012.
During the interview with BBC 5 Tailenders podcast, Anderson pointed out that while the Indian chasing scores Kohli’s self-belief is very high that he is going to get the team to victory. He said:
“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,”
A Tough Call: Anderson Praises Michael Bevan, But Kohli Sets a New Standard
“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],”