'He plays pantomime villain but...' - England great lauds Virat Kohli's gesture towards Bairstow, Root
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Virat Kohli was recently lauded by England's great David Lloyd after the Edgbaston Test. Lloyd admired Kohli's gesture towards centurions Jonny Bairstow-Joe Root after they guided the team to a famous win on Day 5.
Virat Kohli couldn't do anything significant with the bat during India's recent loss versus England in the fifth and final rescheduled Test in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Kohli returned with scores of 11 and 20 as India lost the plot despite a sizeable 132-run lead to lose the contest after setting up a challenging 378-run target for the Ben Stokes-led hosts.
Jonny Bairstow slammed twin centuries in the match whereas Joe Root's 142 not out propelled the home side to a famous series-levelling seven-wicket win on Tuesday (July 05). The duo stitched an unbroken 269-run fourth-wicket stand in England's pursuit of 378 and ended India's hopes of winning their first-ever Test series on English soil since 2007. While Kohli failed with the bat, he made heads turn when he sledged Bairstow during England's first innings. Back then, he was trolled severely by social media users and some former cricketers also didn't like Kohli taking on Bairstow, which only led to the Englishman reaching triple-figure mark in a jiffy.
However, Kohli was recently lauded by England great David Lloyd after the Edgbaston Test. Lloyd admired Kohli's gesture towards centurions Bairstow-Root after they guided the team to a famous win on Day 5. "I thought the on-field scenes at the conclusion of the game were glorious, with India's players congratulating Root and Jonny Bairstow and recognising the epic job they had done," Lloyd wrote in his column for The Daily Mail.
"Special mention for Virat Kohli who at times plays the pantomime villain, but who had a special word with both players. I like that," he wrote.
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"Having said that, I do wonder where the line is and who draws it. Sportsmanship, banter, boorish behaviour, insults, abuse - we saw everything on day four," Lloyd wrote. "Cricket is a non-contact sport, but if a player feels the need to engage another, my advice is: take up cage fighting and have a proper go. Let's see what you're really made of," he concluded.
