Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag took a clear dig at Virat Kohli for sled Jonny Bairstow during the Edgbaston Test between India and England.
Bairstow battled to handle the swing and pace of India’s Fast bowler at the start of Day 3. After missing a sharp in-swinger from Mohammed Shami in the 32-over, he and Kohli were elaborate in a heated argument.
The latter tracked it up with a mocking laugh when Bairstow missed the next ball.
Though the duo was watched sharing a laugh soon after, Bairstow began to take the bowlers on from the further over, similar to how he did in the earlier series against New Zealand.
The aggressiveness paid dividends, and the Englishman smashed a 140-ball 106 to boost his team from 83-5 to 241-7 and prevent a follow-on scare.
In a short tweet note before Bairstow’s dismissal, Sehwag grabs attention at the wicketkeeper-batter’s strike rate before and after the sledding incident. He slammed Kohli for “unreasonably,” riling him up to passage from defensive Cheteswhar Pujara-like to a belligerent Rishabh Pant.
The tweet read:
“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”
Jonny Bairstow's Strike Rate before Kohli's Sledging -: 21
Post Sledging – 150Pujara ki tarah khel rahe thhey, Kohli ne Pant banwa diya bewajah sledge karke #IndvsEng
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 3, 2022
Sehwag is right now being bashed on Twitter for the comment, with fans criticizing him for taking a blind view on the issue.
Amusingly, it was Shami who eventually dismissed Bairstow,, with Kohli taking the catch at slips. Tellingly, the party was quite muted match to when Ben Stokes got out.
Onus on Sam Billings after Jonny Bairstow’s wicket
The YJB celebration 🙌
🦁 Roar
🏀 Jump
😘 Helmet
❤️ Sky🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/Dbo29SFXz4
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 3, 2022
Bairstow’s wicket left England 175 runs backside India’s first innings count. The onus now lies on the 3-Test old wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings.
The right-hander is technically right and has shown in his county stints that he can effort with the tail. That’s absolutely what the visitors now want to reduce the deficit to a manageable number.