India vs England, 4th Test: Virat Kohli makes light of James Anderson's jibe, asks him to 'move on'

Mumbai: Virat Kohli’s maturity as a captain came to the fore on Monday as he made light of Jimmy Anderson’s comments about his technique urging the England veteran to “move on” after Ravichandran Ashwin had also told him the “importance of accepting defeat”.

Anderson in his post-match press conference on Sunday had made an uncharitable comment that Kohli’s technical deficiencies was not at display because the pitches in India were devoid of bounce and there was a lack of movement.

This was after the Indian captain had pulverised the England attack scoring 640 runs in four Tests of the series.

When Anderson came into bat, Ashwin was seen talking to him and it was Kohli and the umpires who intervened.

Asked about the incident, Kohli portrayed an elderly statesman-like attitude.

“It was the first time I was trying to calm things down at a time when he is (Anderson) involved. Ashwin was not pleased with whatever he had said in the press (on Sunday). Ashwin told me on the ground, I had no clue about it. I was laughing about it, but Ashwin was not too impressed,” Kohli told mediapersons.

“He (Ashwin) let him know, not using bad words at all, I think he said he was pretty disappointed in what he said and it’s important to accept defeat and things like that. You know how Ashwin is, to the point he can really strike you well without using bad words. That’s exactly what happened. Later on, I told James these things happen and it’s time to move on,” Kohli showed that he is ready to put an end to the controversy.

Rival captain Alastair Cook termed it as something that had been blown out of proportion.

“It was a bit of a sour end really. A disappointing end in terms of how well the spirit between both sides has been. It was clearly a reference to what Jimmy said yesterday (on Sunday) which has kind of been blown out of all proportions which it can happen here,” said Cook.

But in a veiled manner, Cook did not forget to mention that he endorsed what his main fast bowler had said.

“He was just stating a fact which, if you asked Virat, is probably quite true. But yes, it was obviously just ticking up for their captain, which I thought was slightly unnecessary,” he added.