Virat Kohli and Jonny Bairstow were involved in a verbal altercation during the Day 3 of the Edgbaston Test, with the former India skipper getting enraged over words thrown at him by the England batter on the critical moving day of the encounter.
While Kohli and Bairstow were egging each other on for some time, their duel reached its peak when the Indian was seen walking up to Bairstow and querying as to what is the latest he had to say for him.
Bairstow responded in equal measure while slowly moving closer to Virat. The Englishman was seen tapping the Indian slip fielder on his shoulders as if to try and calm him down, but to no avail.
Next up, things reached a point where Kohli had to tell Bairstow to “shut up, stand and bat“ while Indian bowlers tried to build inroads into the England first-innings. Through their heated exchange, it was clear Kohli was trying to get under Bairstow’s skins, given the form that the England batter has been in.
With England precariously placed at 97/5, trailing India’s gigantic 416 all out by another 319 runs, that was the ideal time for India to try and unsettle Bairstow. And who better to do so than Kohli, who has never been shy of sledging and verbal altercation with the opposition.
Bairstow almost fell into the trap as he was seen engaging with the former India skipper. The right-hand batter tried to resurrect himself and his focus by reshuffling his gloves and entering his stance before Kohli had the last word in the matter.
Sky Sports Cricket, England’s official broadcast partner, recorded a clip of the entire episode and the verbal altercation between the duo, calling the exchange quite “tense”.
The clash between Kohli and Bairstow was in complete contrast to a heartening moment they shared only a day before. When the rain came back and forced a halt to the proceedings, the Indian great was seen holding his arms around the England batter while they offered each other a smile.
But then, the very next day, it was the Kohli-Bairstow duo that gave the commentators and the fans the first moment of angst on the field in what has otherwise been a Test match played in fantastic spirits between the two teams.
Prominent English commentator Nasser Hussain narrated the verbal exchange between Kohli and Bairstow on-air.
“Don’t know, don’t know what happened there. There is something between Bairstow and Kohli. Definitely, Bairstow said something, Kohli’s gone back. It’s tense out there,”
he said behind the mic.
Despite the involvement of two thorough professionals, things may have escalated if not for the quick intervention from the umpires, who came near the playing surface and urged the two players to get on with the game and let the Test match continue in the right manner. The spat was put to rest by officiating umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Kettleborough.
While it was visible that things weren’t okay between the two cricketers, Bairstow played down such talks at the close of play on Day 3. Speaking to the press following another magnificent hundred to his name, Bairstow said there was “literally nothing” wrong between him and Kohli. He joked that they would be pretty open to having dinner, too, when one of the journalists asked him if Virat “poke the bear?”
“It’s a nice pun that in it. As I mentioned earlier, there was literally nothing. We’ve been fortunate to play against each other for ten years. So, I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to have dinner. Don’t worry about it,”
Bairstow responded.
