England Cricket Board's 'silence' post on Virat Kohli after fifth Test angers Indian fans

The England Cricket Board took to their social media handles on Tuesday evening, after ENG’s win over India in the 5th Test match at Edgbaston and made a cheeky post referring to Virat Kohli’s argument with Jonny Bairstow. Earlier on Day 3 of the match, the former India skipper was involved in a verbal spat with Bairstow, which had become the talking point on social media. However, ECB posted the picture of Kohli asking Bairstow to shut up, alongside a picture of Kohli hugging Bairstow after India’s loss.

The cricket board used a zipper-mouth face emoji as the caption describing the two images, which can be referred to Kohli getting silenced by Bairstow and England’s performance, after the heated exchange of words. The incident took place in the 32nd over of the 2nd innings, when Kohli looked unhappy with Bairstow after something was said to him. “Shut up. Just stand and bat," Kohli was heard saying in the stumps mic.

How did the fans react?

Jonny Bairstow hits back-to-back centuries in Edgbaston Test after Virat Kohli banter

This followed Bairstow striking a century, which was the highest individual score among the English batters in the first innings. Having scored 416 runs in the 1st innings, India managed to score only 245 runs in their 2nd innings, and set a target of 378 runs for the hosts. Former skipper Joe Root and Bairstow ensured England cruise to the victory in fashion by remaining unbeaten after reaching their individual centuries.

Bairstow scored 114* runs in 145 balls in the fourth innings, following up the knock of 106 runs in 140 balls in the second. At the same time, Root remained unbeaten on 142* runs off 173 balls. The match concluded with England’s win in the first session of the final day.

India and England to play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs

Having said that, India and England will now lock horns in a 3-match T20I series, followed by a 3-match ODI series as a part of India’s tour of England 2022. After missing the Edgbaston Test due to Covid-19, India captain Rohit Sharma has returned to net practice, and is scheduled to lead the team in the 1st T20I on July 7. Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested for the 1st T20I.

India’s squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

India’s squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, J Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Shami, Mohd Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

(Image: @englandcricket/Twitter)