James Anderson’s Comments On Virat Kohli Misunderstood, Says Alastair Cook
Dec 12, 2016 at 1:55 PM
After a hard fought Test between India and England in Mumbai, the spotlight remains on aspects that took place off the field. As ironic as it may sound, but both skippers, Virat Kohli and Alastair Cook, answered questions that relate to James Anderson’s comments about the former on the fourth day. Anderson apparently said the slow Indian pitches were hiding Kohli’s flaws in batting.
Post his side’s series defeat, Alastair Cook sternly said Anderson’s comments had been blown out of proportion and people had misunderstood what the pacer meant. Cook himself was criticized by former England cricketers for his defensive captaincy during India’s innings as he failed to stimulate his troops.
“It was a bit of a sour end, a disappointing end in terms of how well the spirit between both sides has been,” Cook said. “It was clearly in reference to what Jimmy said on Sunday, which is kind of getting blown out of all proportions, as it can do here. He was just stating a fact about about Virat which is probably true. Yeah, Ashwin was just obviously sticking up for his captain, which I thought was slightly unnecessary.”
Ashwin got dragged into the matter as he apparently had a word with Anderson during the fifth day about the matter. Defending his star player, Kohli said, “For the first time, I was trying to calm things down.”
“Ashwin wasn’t pleased with whatever Anderson said something in the press or something like that. Ashwin told me on the ground, I had no clue about it. So I didn’t know what to make of it, I was laughing about it but Ashwin wasn’t too impressed so he let him know. Not using any bad words, honestly.”
“I think, Ashwin told Anderson he was pretty disappointed with what he said and it’s important to accept defeat the way it is and things like that. You know how Ashwin is, he’s to the point, he can really strike you well. He doesn’t need to say bad words. That’s exactly what happened. Later on, I told James that it’s fine, these things happen so let’s move on with it,” Kohli concluded.