England pacer opens up on his potential feud with Virat Kohli ahead of marquee Test series against India

Ollie Robinson has been one of the upcoming talents of England cricket for the last couple of years and after Stuart Broad hung his boots last year, Robinson will now come as one of the premier bowlers of the England pace attack after James Anderson.

Robinson on his potential feud with Virat Kohli

Robinson comes up as one of the fiercest competitors on the field and doesn’t even shy away from taking opposition players on the field even if they are some of the greatest of all times. Robinson came into the limelight after he got the better of Indian premier batter Virat Kohli thrice in India’s tour to England in 2021. He also didn’t mind taking on Virat Kohli even after knowing that face-offs on the field rile up players like Kohli to bring their A game onto the field. 

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo on his potential encounters with Virat Kohli in the upcoming Test series against India Robinson said, “You always want to play against the best players, don't you? And you always want to get the best players out. Kohli is one of those. He's got a big ego and I think playing on that, especially in India, where he is going to want to dominate and score runs, playing on the fact we've had battles in the past, is exciting."

Robinson on learning from Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma

The right-arm pacer further opened up a bit on his preparations for the upcoming test series against India and how he is taking inspiration from India’s veteran pacer Mohammad Shami’s skills to deliver a perfect seam position while bowling. He also added that he is taking cues from another former Indian pacer Ishant Sharma’s book on how to bowl successfully on Indian pitches which are considered to be the graveyard for pacers.

Speaking about Shami and Ishant Robinson said, “I've been practicing Mohammed Shami's dead-straight seam," he reveals. "He's one of the best bowlers for India. I was looking at Ishant [Sharma] as well - he played at Sussex for a bit and he's done well in India for quite a while. He's tall, similar to me."

Robinson last toured India with England in 2021 as a reserve bowler in the squad. England lost that series by 3-1 after winning the first match. But this time they are coming with a different management and a popular ‘Bazball’ approach and Robinson will be one of their premier pacer along with Anderson who could feature in the first test at Hyderabad.