After wreaking havoc against India with a five-wicket haul, James Anderson confessed that the conditions were so notorious for batting that even England would have been bundled out had they batted first.
"Some days it hoops round – they've been quite rare actually, the days we've had like that, move through the air as much as that – but for us, with the experience we've had of bowling on flat decks and the ball doing nothing, when you get the opportunity like that you lick your lips and try to show off your skills," Anderson said.
"We'd even get our batsmen out'
"If we were bowling at our batsmen, we'd have the better of them (too)," he further quipped.
Speaking about the Indian batting and responding to questions which revolved around the merit of the batsmen, Anderson was quite candid in accepting that the conditions were far too much tilted in favour of them.
"To be honest, I think if we bowled like that, with those conditions, we'd bowl most teams in the world out – because we were that good," England's leading wicket-taker said.
The Kohli-Anderson battle has been one of the major attractions of the Test series so far, and even on the second day, it was an intriguing watch. While Anderson did elicit few loose strokes and even managed to find the edge, Kohli showed good patience and tenacity in really hostile conditions.
"I've really enjoyed the contest between myself and him. He's No 1 in the world for a reason. For me, I love playing against the best players in the world, testing yourself and seeing whether you can get the better of them," Anderson said.
India have all the running to do, not only in this match but also in the series. The forecast for day 3 and day 4 is fair which could well mean it will be an uphill task for the Indian bowlers to replicate what the hosts did with the ball.
However, the pitch could well assist the spinners if the sun comes out and this is where R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav need to step up and give a good account of themselves.
