Former India opener Virender Sehwag was not happy with Virat Kohli sledging and constantly prodding England’s Jonny Bairstow as the Yorkshire batter hammered an amazing century to rescue England from 84/5 and take them to 284.
Resuming from that score on day three, Bairstow and captain Ben Stokes added 65 more runs before Jasprit Bumrah took an outstanding catch to remove his English counterpart.
Before the dismissal, however, things turned rather tense on the field with India's Virat Kohli and Bairstow engaging in a heated discussion. In fact, Ben Stokes had to intervene in the middle to calm things down, following which Kohli threw a friendly punch on Bairstow's back.
However, with Stokes gone, Bairstow was joined by Sam Billings, and with his eyes set in, Bairstow went on the offensive. He was batting at 16 off 64 deliveries before his heated conversation with Kohli; in the next 39 deliveries till lunch, Bairstow smashed 75 runs.
He finally fell for 106 runs with 14 fours and 2 sixes, but that was enough to add 95 important runs with Billings and take England to a decent total, cutting down massively at the deficit.
But Kohli’s approach to unsettling Bairstow didn’t sit well with Virender Sehwag, who took to Twitter and chided Kohli for inciting Bairstow to change gears and hammer the Indian bowling.
“Jonny Bairstow's Strike Rate before Kohli's Sledging - 21. Post Sledging - 150. Pujara ki tarah khel rahe thhey, Kohli ne Pant banwa diya bewajah sledge karke #IndvsEng (He was playing like Pujara, Kohli unnecessarily turned him into Pant with his sledging),” wrote Sehwag.
This was Bairstow's third century in as many Tests, having smashed the last two against New Zealand. For India, Mohammed Siraj took 4/66, while Jasprit Bumrah claimed 3/68. Mohammad Shami scalped 2/78, while Shardul Thakur claimed one.
