His test begins now

Its rare that cricket fans witness the ultimate bowler versus batsman duel where both players are at their peak The gold standard for such battles would be Harold Larwood versus Don Bradman the rivalry that spawned BodylineIve had the good fortune to witness a couple of the best in this category firstly Dennis Lillee versus Viv Richards and then Shane Warne up against Sachin Tendulkar As you would expect with players of the highest class the honours were about those battles with all protagonists experiencing moments of superiorityFans are currently enjoying another tilt of the highest quality in the battle between Jimmy Anderson and Virat Kohli In 2014 Kohli experienced a run drought in England and Anderson was the undoubted victor in those tusslesKohli has found a wayHowever on this tour Kohli with a little assistance from the butterfingered English slip fielders has prevailed Thats not to say that Kohli has dominated Anderson but hes found a way to survive mdash and then prosper mdash which is an achievement against the master swing bowlerAnderson is the best swing bowler Ive seen For lateness of swing and ability to move it both ways with minimal change of action and consistency over a long career he is unsurpassed I witnessed firsthand Bob Massies incredible debut at Lords in 1972 where he swung the ball prodigiously both ways to collect a staggering eight wickets in each innings Massies performance in that match was a remarkable example of controlled late movement through the air Anderson achieves that level of proficiency pretty well every time he bowls in England His run up and action is athletically smooth and for metronomic repetition Glenn McGrath would be his only challengerSo for Kohli to be confronted by a champion bowler in favourable conditions and score two hundred runs in both the matches at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge without conceding his wicket to Anderson is a mighty achievement Although Kohli was hampered by injury at Lords he still resisted Andersons challenge but the impression was much like Bradman in his Bodyline battle with Larwood that the bowlers presence had a profound effect on his eventual dismissalsSo BradmanesqueThe difference between Kohli and the three aforementioned batsmen is the supporting cast Bradman mdash not that he required it mdash was surrounded by one of Australias best ever top order lineups Richards was the star in a glittering West Indies batting order and Tendulkar had a similar pride of place in a strong Indian lineupUp until Trent Bridge Kohli was fighting a lone hand against a suddenly rampant England attack but the Indian batsmen showed great resolve in the third Test and emulated their captains determination to succeedKohli seems to have overcome his back problems and importantly he found the right words to inspire his fellow batsmen before the series was beyond Indias reach Jimmy Anderson has been just oneofmany challenges that Kohli has faced in this seriesPrior to reaching the UK India had a glorious opportunity to defeat two heavyweights in England and Australia in consecutive Test series This wouldve been a laudable achievementKohlis team in danger of wilting tamely to England has unearthed the determination required to produce a rare comeback and emulate the feat of the Bradman led 193637 Australian team in winning a five Test series from twonil downThe next few weeks will be a defining period in Kohlis captaincy career Hes already shown on many occasions that hes a master batsman if he can complete the resurrection of this Indian team and find a way to thwart Anderson and his English cohorts then it will go down as an example of masterful leadershipCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates