Virat Kohli names the one bowler he still can’t pick after 15 years

India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Virat Kohli has named the bowlers who have tested him the most during his career across all formats. Speaking at an event ahead of RCB’s high-profile IPL 2025 game against Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli reflected on the toughest challenges he has faced with the bat. The ace batter, known for his consistency and resilience, shared insights into the bowlers who pushed his game to the limit over the years.

In a now-viral video, Kohli named England’s veteran seamer James Anderson as the most difficult bowler he faced in Test cricket, especially in English conditions.

In One Day Internationals, Virat picked Sri Lankan pace legend Lasith Malinga as the trickiest to face, while also admitting that England’s leg-spinner Adil Rashid has consistently troubled him in the 50-over format.


"In Test cricket. James Anderson in England was by far the toughest team went to cricket. I think Sunil Narine, for a consistent amount of time. Fifteen years. He's still very difficult to pick. This guy hits him for fun, but I can't. I can't pick him," Kohli said in the video.

When it comes to T20 cricket, Kohli acknowledged Kolkata Knight Riders' mystery spinner Sunil Narine as the most difficult bowler to pick in the shortest format.

"In ODIs, I think Malinga was pretty good. He was difficult to face. Adil Rashid is very good. He's probably the toughest ODI spinner that I've faced. He's very, very good," he said.

Meanwhile, during the chat, Kohli also reminisced about his excitement during the inaugural IPL season in 2008 and how surreal the experience was.

"The first year was exciting in terms of unexpected things happening. We hadn't played a lot of T20 cricket. Secondly, franchise cricket allowed us to play with different players from all over the world—players we looked up to. And when the auction happened, we were in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, and we were sold as first-class cricketers, who were limited to Rs 20 lakhs. We went crazy in the corridor—‘We got Rs 20 lakhs!’ That was the emotion behind it. Because we didn’t know what to expect—the opening ceremony, the whole experience of meeting great cricketers—it was surreal," said the star batter.