England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is facing the wrath of Indian fans for taking a dig at Virat Kohli on their Twitter handle. They used two pictures of Kohli side by side with a zipper-mouth emoji as the caption, soon after India lost the decider in Birmingham by seven wickets.
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The post was a reference to the on-field altercation between Kohli and Jonny Bairstow, which happened on the second day of the Test. Bairstow arrived at the crease when England was teetering at 78/4 in the first innings. He struggled to negate Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, having survived an lbw scare and a few more close calls.
Kohli, stationed at the slip cordon, offered a mouthful to the batter. A day later, when he took a sharp catch of Bairstow, Kohli gave him a flying kiss on his way to the pavilion. This was the second picture ECB used in the post. In the other picture, Kohli is seen congratulating Bairstow for his century that sealed the game for England.
The post didn’t go down well with Indian fans, who were quick to express their displeasure over an official handle trolling an all-time great. One user wrote, “Not a great sign from official handle, to troll greatest player of the modern era Such a shame Yes u won but doesn’t mean to troll him Btw when England tour India last year bcci were to good to root and co when root hits the double.”
“We can’t expect that like things from the official page. it’s just ridiculous, nothing else. how can you troll the best player of the modern era? Virat is known for giving it back. Just wait for the limited-overs series,” tweeted another user.
Bairstow, however, downplayed the incident, stating that was just normal chit-chat between two players who are fiercely competitive on the field. “Virat Kohli and other Indian players are very passionate about their country. There’s literally nothing between me and Virat, just two very competitive people out on the field doing what they love,” he clarifies.
(Featured Image Credit: BCCI)
