Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has criticised James Anderson for his uncharitable comments about Virat Kohli's technique, saying that the England pacer should first take wickets in India before questioning the Indian skipper's capabilities.
Anderson had recently said Kohli's technical deficiencies were not at display during the ongoing Test series between India and England because the pitches in India are devoid of bounce and there is lack of movement.
"It is surprising to me that Anderson should question Kohli's runs and ability because I haven't seen him take too many wickets in India," Inzamam said on the Geo Super sports channel.
"Does Anderson mean to say that if you get runs in England you get some sort of certificate that makes you a quality batsman. Don't the English and Australian players struggle when they play in the sub-continentIJ Does that mean they are bad players or weak teams. To me it does not matter where you get runs because in Test matches runs are runs," the former Pakistan skipper added.
Inzamam, who played against the golden breed of Indian batsmen, rated Kohli highly.
"I always judge a batsman by seeing how many times the runs he scores leads to his team winning matches. In my opinion if a batsman scores 80 and it helps his team win, it matters more to me than someone scoring 150 and his team still losing. "He is a quality player and when he is getting runs his team does well. That is important to judge or classify a batsman's value. There is hunger in him for runs," he said.
Kapil backs kohli
New Delhi: Taking a dig at James Anderson for his controversial comments on Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev has come out in strong support of India's Test captain, saying he has not seen a cricketer like him and the star batsman can score in all conditions.
"Virat can very well play in all conditions. He is simply playing fabulous cricket. It is great to see an Indian play like this. I have never seen a cricketer like him," said Kapil at the launch of optical store Envee Optix here today.
In a lighter vein, Kapil went on to say that Kohli can even score runs with his sunglasses on, considering he is in the form of his life. The 28-year-old has already scored 41 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in all three formats.