James Anderson terms his battle against Virat Kohli this year as his favorite

Anderson also spoke on his upcoming battle with Steve Smith in upcoming Ashes.

England pacer James Anderson has said his battle against India skipper Virat Kohli in this year's Test series was his favorite and he also said that both fierce opponents have mutual respect for each other.

During the four completed Test matches of the five-Test series between England and India, Anderson dismissed Kohli two times at the cost of 64 runs.

"This summer was probably my favorite contest with Virat. We've had a few good battles over the years, both in England and India, but this year was certainly my favorite. I got him out a few times but also he got some runs as well, and we had a battle on the field where there was definitely mutual respect there. It was in a really nice manner, if that makes sense. Obviously, we were going at each other, but it was in a well-spirited way. So I really enjoyed that," Anderson told Fox Cricket's Road to the Ashes podcast, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.

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Anderson further talked about his upcoming battle down under with Australian batting maestro Steve Smith. The Ashes 2021-22 begins with the first Test match scheduled for December 8 in Brisbane.

He said, "As a bowler, you always look at the best player, and for me over the last three, four, or five years, Steve Smith's been Australia's best player. He's been the one they rely on for their volume of runs, obviously supported by guys around him like [David] Warner and [Marnus] Labuschagne recently. But he's been their go-to in the last few years, so he'll be the one that we will be keen to get out early."

"We've got to start well. The Gabba in particular is huge for us. If we can get one-up on a few batters early, then that can have a real snowball effect throughout the series. Bowling in Australia is not necessarily more difficult, it's just different. In England, the Dukes swings more often than not, and with the wickets, we play on, you can get some seam movement as well. But you're not going to get many swings with a Kookaburra, so it's just about trying to hit good areas. You've just got to be relentless, and so accurate. And that's where people do struggle," he added.

(ANI inputs)