Watch: Virat Kohli just schooled James Anderson about sportsman spirit and accepting defeat gracefully

Virat Kohli and James Anderson share one of the fiercest rivalries in modern-day cricket. Not only are they absolute match-winners, they both even wear their hearts on their sleeves when they're on the field. There's no denying that both Kohli and Anderson take great pride in being the go-to men for their respective teams.

Naturally then, when India toured England in 2014, it was this blockbuster contest that was the centre of attention throughout the course of the series. Sadly for Indian fans, though, the veteran pacer had the measure of the rising star of Indian cricket, dismissing him cheaply a total of four times in the series. It was largely accepted that Anderson's swing and guile was too much for Kohli to handle in the seamer-friendly English conditions, and that the middle-order batsman's technique had some serious flaws when it came to the moving ball outside off-stump.

However, the blip in form didn't really have any bearing on Kohli's game. The Delhi lad went on to smash four centuries on the tour to Australia in early 2015, and as history will remember, he has never looked back since.

Come 2016, England's tour to India has once again ignited the Kohli-Anderson rivalry. Observers have been keen to see if history will repeat itself and if Kohli will be found out by Anderson once again. Expectedly, though, that was not to be. The Indian Test captain has taken his game several notches higher since the forgettable tour of 2014 and has, thus, amassed a staggering 640 runs in the four Tests so far. The icing on the cake has been a third double-century of the year in the just-concluded fourth Test at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, which India won by an innings to clinch the five-match series 3-0. Anderson's limited swing has been largely ineffective and Kohli has been able to milk him for runs with ease.

The leading English wicket-taker in history, however, believes it is the Indian wickets that are the secret behind Kohli's record-breaking success and that the "technical deficiencies" in his batting haven't really gone away. "I just think any technical deficiencies he's got aren't in play out here. The wickets just take that out of the equation," said Anderson, soon after Kohli completed his double-century. "There's not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England -- with a bit more movement. When that's not there, he's very much suited to playing in these conditions," he added.

Now firstly, taking away credit from Kohli for making the most of the favourable batting conditions in India is like belittling Anderson's brilliant performance during India's tour of England because the conditions out there were clearly seamer-friendly. No one from the Indian team had suggested that back then. In which case, this is simply a case of sour grapes for Anderson. Secondly, and more importantly, such snide remarks on the Indian captain should be beneath the stature of someone like Anderson. If only he could have chosen to be more gracious in defeat. 

On his part, Kohli gave the most befitting reply to Anderson's uncalled-for comments on his batting. While chatting with former Indian opener Virender Sehwag, who is a commentator with the official broadcaster of the series, Kohli spoke about how he chose to take the high road after getting to know what was said about him. When Sehwag asked him if he was disappointed at what Anderson said, Kohli stated that it doesn't really matter what anyone says because the scoreboard is there for all to see.

Watch: Kohli speaks his heart out about Anderson

"Ashwin told me on the field this morning what Anderson had commented last evening. Ash then went ahead and told him that it was disappointing to hear those words from him because if we have played well then he should accept it,' said Kohli. "I think he felt guilty at some point because he asked me then if we could have a word later, but i told him that there was no reason to talk. Whatever the matter is, it is apparent clearly on the scoreboard.

"I didn't want to have a debate on how many runs I made or how I made them. And neither did I want to say that they played badly. Again, that's there for all to see. I told Ash that we're going to win 3-0 and to forget whatever he said. Let him realise that what he said is not right. It was very evident at the end that he was feeling guilty," added the Indian captain.