Day 3 in Birmingham had taken off to a tensed start as Kohli was spotted in a heated exchange with Bairstow. It wasn't the first time in this Test match, as he had ruthlessly sledged the England batter on the previous day as well. The video of their spat, once again, went viral on social media.
However, while Kohli might have done it to rattle Bairstow, the latter kept focus on his batting and eventually reached his third-straight triple-figure mark in Test cricket, scoring a knock of 106 runs that helped England avoid follow-on.
Moments after Bairstow's century, Sehwag had taken to Twitter to highlight the change in gears in his batting post the incident. "Jonny Bairstow's Strike Rate before Kohli's Sledging -: 21; Post Sledging - 150," he wrote while lashing out at Kohli for sledging the batter.
At day end, Bairstow was asked on the same lines, whether Kohli's words made him more determined - "Did he poke the bear?" And he replied saying, "It's a nice pun that in it".
Such was the spat that even two on-field umpires, Aleen Dar and Richard Kettleborough were forced to intervene and clam the situation down.
However, Bairstow brushed aside any differences between the two, saying there was "literally nothing" and rather joked saying, "Refused to invite him for dinner."
"As I mentioned earlier, there was literally nothing. We've been fortunate to play against each other for ten years. So, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to have dinner. Don't worry about it," he further added.
It wasn't the first it happened during the fifth Test. Earlier in Day 2, Kohli had ruthlessly sledged Bairstow using Tim Southee's name when the England batter looked to struggle against Mohammed Shami.
Day 3 of the ongoing Edgbaston Test between India and England kicked off to a tensed start in Birmingham. India dominated the proceedings on both the days. Barring the opening session on Day 1, England never really looked to make a comeback as Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja with the bat and the Indian pace attack kept England in pressure. The third day hence stood of utmost importance for the hosts who trailed by 322 runs at the start of the morning session, but Day 3 witnessed an unlikely start as former skipper Virat Kohli and Jonny Bairstow was involved in a heated exchange. (India vs England Live Score, 5th Test Day 3)
It wasn't the first it happened during the fifth Test. Earlier in Day 2, Kohli had ruthlessly sledged Bairstow using Tim Southee's name when the England batter looked to struggle against Mohammed Shami. The two later shared a laugh over it at the close of day, a video of which had gone viral.
However, things had turned ugly on Day 3 as Kohli was heard saying, “Shut up. Just stand and bat” to Bairstow during the 33rd over when Jasprit Bumrah was into the attack. Moments earlier, Kohli had sledged him once again.
Moments after the altercation, Kohli was spotted having a word with England skipper Virat Kohli before he walked up to Bairstow to deliver a friendly punch and the two laughed over it.
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