Former cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain on Tuesday (February 6) said he is eager to see the battle between Virat Kohli and James Anderson in the ongoing Test series between India and England.

While the visitors left Anderson out of the playing XI in the opening Test in Hyderabad, the veteran pacer picked up five wickets in the second Test at Vizag.

On the other hand, Kohli pulled out of the first two Tests due to ‘personal reasons’. It remains to be seen if the star batter will be available for the remainder of the five-match series, which is evenly poised at 1-1 at the moment.

"I hope he does come back because the only thing this series has been missing is the battle between Kohli and Jimmy Anderson. I’m looking forward to that," Hussain said in a Q&A session for the Daily Mail.

According to Hussain, if Kohli features in the last three Tests, a more ruthless version of the Indian team can be seen on the field.

"The one thing about India is that in three of their four innings they have been a bit sloppy. I know Rahul Dravid, and he would have been ticking inside at some of the dismissals so far. India will think, ‘We keep on giving England a sniff here, let’s be more ruthless’. And the one thing Kohli is, is absolutely ruthless," he remarked.

On a different note, Nasser Hussain asked England batter Jonny Bairstow to focus on converting his starts. In two Tests so far, Bairstow has amassed 157 runs at an average of 24.50 with a top score of 37 to his name.

"Bairstow’s an excellent player and just needs to convert one of his starts. It wasn’t just him. All of the England batters got in and got out again in Vizag. Jonny will know if Brook does go to India he will need to be clinical and get a big score. But this England side have shown faith in players and I expect them to show faith in Bairstow," Hussain said.

The third Test between India and England is slated to get underway after an extended break on February 15 in Rajkot.